Taliban representative: There will be no democratic government in Afghanistan, the ex-president wants to return home – Topka

“There will be no democratic system, because it has no basis in our country … We will not debate what political system we should establish in Afghanistan, because it is clear. It is (Islamic) Sharia law,” Hashimi said the Taliban leadership should meet later this week to discuss governance issues.

The system of government that Hashimi outlined should thus be similar to the system during the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 1996-2001, which ended with the US invasion. The then Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Umar stayed behind and left the day-to-day running to the government council.

On Sunday, Taliban fighters surprisingly easily occupied the Afghan capital, Kabul, and overthrew a government militarily backed by the United States and NATO for two decades. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country shortly before.

Afghan ex-president supports talks with Taliban, wants to return home

Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Wednesday that he supported talks between the Taliban movement and former top government officials. He said he was negotiating his return home after taking refuge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I support the government’s initiative in the ongoing negotiations between Abdullah Abdullah and former President Hamid Karzai. I wish this process a success.” Ghani said in a video report. It was his first appearance after Sunday’s escape from the country to the UAE, when the capital of Kabul was occupied by the Taliban, the AFP agency noted.

Source: TASR / Fabrice Coffrini / pool photo via AP, File

“I am still in the Emirates to stop the bloodshed and chaos,” the ex-president continued, saying “does not intend” to remain in exile. “I am currently negotiating a return to Afghanistan,” he added. Taliban leaders have previously said that “pardon all former government officials”, added AFP, referring to the American company SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors the activities of jihadists on the Internet.

As previously reported by the DPA, referring to the images posted on Twitter, Taliban representatives met on Wednesday with representatives of other Afghan political forces. The footage captures Karzai with the leader of the Afghan Supreme Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) Abdullah Abdullah at a meeting with Anas Hakkani – a high-ranking Taliban leader and one of the leaders of the Hakkani Group. According to local media, the meeting took place at Abdullah’s house in Kabul.

The content of the interview is unknown. A Taliban spokesman recently told a news conference that the movement wanted to share power with other political forces.