Afghan Taliban's best man may replace inexperienced top negotiator for peace talks

Islamabad, Mar. 9 (ANI): The current top Taliban peace negotiator might be replaced due to inexperience and will not be able to get the job done.

Syed Tayyeb Agha and his team are not expected to achieve the desired results in the negotiations, a former Taliban minister told The Express Tribune.

He said that Tayyeb Agha and all other Taliban negotiators were not seniors and lacked the ability to smoothly take the dialogue process forward and deal with all sides and important players in the Afghan conflict.

Qari Deen Muhammad is another strong candidate. He was a member of the Taliban team that attended a seminar in Kyoto, Japan, in June 2012, the first international conference attended by them. He sat with his rival Masoom Stanekzai, a senior official of the Afghan High Peace Council.

According to the report, growing international pressure to come to the table has also played a part in this development as the perception is that Agha is 'too junior' to effectively interact with national and international stakeholders.

Mullah Abbas Akhund, who was the health minister in the Taliban cabinet from 1996 to 2001, is tipped to become the next possible head of the negotiating team, the Taliban leader said, adding that a final decision has yet to be reached.

Agha, however, is not entirely without experience. He has served as a spokesperson to Taliban chief Mullah Omar.

Last year, he acted as negotiator during the inconclusive Afghan Taliban talks with the US in Qatar. He was also involved in negotiations with the Germans and his Pakistani experience came from serving as first secretary in the Afghan embassy in Islamabad during the Taliban regime.

His ability to get this job done, however, has been under discussion for a long time, a Taliban leader on condition of anonymity said.

Agha came under fire after the Taliban confirmed preliminary contacts with the US over prisoners and opening of political offices.

When contacted, Taliban's spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid denied the possible replacement and dismissed the news, saying "there was no such thing", the report added. (ANI)