Taliban call for scholars to boycott Indonesia peace talks

Afghan Taliban leaders have called for a boycott of Indonesian efforts to broker a peace deal.

Taliban fighters in the Shindand district of Herat province. Picture: AP

Afghan Taliban leaders have called for a boycott of Indonesian efforts to broker a peace deal in the war-torn nation before talks have even started, describing plans to host a religious scholars’ meeting later this month as ­“deceptive”.

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said last week it would convene a meeting of 45 Pakistani, Indonesian and Afghan Islamic leaders — including representatives of the Taliban — to discuss the violence and fatwas issued by Taliban-aligned clerics.

The meeting was to have been the precursor to a broader International Ulema Conference on Peace and Development in ­Afghanistan to be held in Indonesia later this year at the request of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

But on Saturday the Taliban posted a statement on its website, describing the Indonesian-led peace process as “deceptive” and accusing their enemies of trying to trick Islamic scholars into gathering in Jakarta.

“Do not afford an opportunity to the invading infidels in Afghanistan to misuse your name and participation in this conference as means of attaining their malicious objective,” it said.

MUI international relations chairman Muhyiddin Junaidi insisted this month’s talks would go ahead, despite the Taliban’s official boycott. “Maybe the Taliban is not well-informed and received the wrong information about the conference. We just want to listen to them and share our experience in resolving conflicts. We also want to synchronise our procedures on issuing a fatwa,” he said.

The talks had already been postponed once from the original March 15 date to later this month to ensure Taliban-aligned ulema, from remote parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, were able to attend.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry director for the South and Central Asia region, Ferdy Piay, told Arab News the ministry was aware of the Taliban statement but “in principle, Indonesia continues to make preparations for the meeting”.

The proposed talks follow a number of diplomatic overtures between Indonesian and Afghan leaders, including reciprocal visits by Indonesian president Joko Widodo and Dr Ghani, and a November visit to Jakarta by members of the Afghan High Peace Council. Last month Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla was guest of honour at the Kabul conference where Dr Ghani offered the most favourable conditions yet for Taliban commanders to come to the peace table, including recognition of the Taliban as a political group.

Analyst Waheed Muzhda, a foreign ministry official in the former Taliban government, said Indonesia had erred by not first talking with the Taliban about acceptable terms for the meeting.

“Vice-President Kalla came to Kabul and wanted to gather Ulema in Indonesia so they could issue a decree saying that fighting is not according to Islamic law. It is impossible for the Taliban to accept this,” Mr Muzhda told The Australian yesterday. “This kind of meeting is not useful for peace in Afghanistan. Indonesia is a very big Islamic country and we hope this kind of country would be impartial in the Afghan peace process. But if they want to make this kind of decree against the Taliban that means they are not impartial and this kind of effort creates more problems for peace in Afghanistan.”