UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (APP):The United Nations mission in Afghanistan on Wednesday welcomed the Afghan Governments renewed call for unconditional peace talks with the Taliban and expressed strong support for its vision for peace.
The Government presented the proposal at an international conference aimed at creating a platform for peace talks.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) welcomes the Afghan Governments renewed call for unconditional peace talks with the Taliban and the outlining of a framework for peace, presented at the Kabul Process II conference in the Afghan capital today,said a UNAMA press release.
The Mission strongly supports the vision for peace through intra-Afghan dialogue and urges all parties involved to engage at the earliest time, the release said.
UNAMA commended the stated preparedness of Afghan authorities to discuss all issues as part of a peace process, including such key aspects as the constitution and the lifting of sanctions against persons and entities, as well as the release of prisoners.
The UN Security Council established UNAMA, a political mission, in March 2002. However, Afghanistan remains a country undergoing conflict, which threatens the sustainability of its achievements, according to the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA).
Peace negotiations between the Afghan Government and armed opposition groups are the only alternative for ending the conflict, the DPA says, noting that the region and the broader international community have a stake and a role in helping to create the conditions for peace.
The conference, held in Kabul, brought together all of Afghanistan neighbouring States, along with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as other parties, to establish a consensus among regional and international stakeholders on the imperative for an Afghan-led peace process.
UNAMA is encouraged by the active participation of the countries and organizations present; we look forward to increased cooperation to assist with Afghan peace efforts and to address the shared problem of terrorism and transnational crime, the release said.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (APP):The United States expressed the hope that Taliban will eventually join the peace process by the Afghan government as there was no military solution to the problem there, as a peace conference kicks off in Kabul to discuss international efforts to stabilize the region.
At a briefing at the US State Department, spokesperson Heather Nauert said the US was enthusiastic about the Kabul Peace Process Conference, which is an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned initiative to try to bring together different international partners to coordinate international efforts to support Afghanistan’s pursuit of peace.
“The Taliban, unfortunately, does not seem ready at this point to sit down and have conversations about peace talks,” she said but expressed the hope that they will eventually, as that is the best way to be able to have peace in Afghanistan.
“Ultimately, we don’t see there being a military solution to the situation in Afghanistan. Ultimately, it has to be a political situation. And that can best be done, if the Taliban is willing to sit down and have talks certainly the United States Government could have a role in that. But that’s really up to Afghanistan, but it has to be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.”
Pakistan is among more than 20 countries which will attend the 2nd Kabul Process Conference, an initiative by the Afghan government that started last year.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Taliban asked US officials to talk directly to their political office regarding a peace solution and said that Washington must realize there was no military solution to the conflict, according to a media report.
When asked to comment on the Taliban statement, spokesperson Nauert said that the long US position had been that any peace talks with Afghanistan have to be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
She praised the Afghan government for holding the conference in spite of terrorist attacks in the past weeks, saying that the fact that the Afghans are willing to go forward with that is impressive and a testament to their bravery.
“We anticipate they will have candid conversations about peace, about security, about overall connectivity, building and those types of things regarding Afghanistan, but also the broader region. The fact that the meeting is happening is something that is really impressive, and we look forward to being a part of that meeting,” she added.
Replying to a question about another conference being held in Tashkent in Uzbekistan, she said that it’s being led by the Government of Uzbekistan and the government of Afghanistan will take part. The US Acting Assistant Secretary Alice Wells will also attend the Tashkent conference.
“We consider Uzbekistan as having a historic role in supporting stability in Afghanistan, and that conference is considered a real return to the international stage in a lot of ways. So we look forward to that, she added. (APP/zh)

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 (APP):The United Nations has a roadmap for ending the raging civil conflict in Yemen, but the warring parties are not showing the required commitment to implement it, the outgoing UN Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad, has said, while appealing to the country’s decision-makers to show political will for restoring peace.
“We do have a peace roadmap for Yemen. The practical suggestions to launch it and build confidence among the parties have been agreed upon,” he said in his last briefing to the UN Security Council before the end of his mandate.
“The only part missing is the commitment of parties to make concessions and give priority to the national interest. This is what makes us doubtful of their real intention to end this war,” the envoy added.
“Today, I would like to announce, for the first time, that we were about to reach agreement on a peace proposal, developed in consultation with the parties, but they refused to sign in the last minute, “Ould Cheikh Ahmad said. “In the end of the consultations, it became clear that the Houthis were not prepared to make concessions on the proposed security arrangements. This has been a major stumbling block towards reaching a negotiated solution.”
He referred to peace talks in Biel in 2015 and Kuwait in 2016, but did not indicate when the Houthis dropped out of negotiations. The discussions had led to a “peace roadmap with a clear timeline” that was never implemented, he said.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who has worked on Yemen since 2015, painted a bleak portrait of a country that is breaking apart, and with no “peace roadmap” between the Houthis, local forces and a Saudi-led coalition, the calamity is unlikely to end any time soon.
“We see daily reports about civilians dying of poverty, hunger or illness but we should not forget that many politicians from all sides are profiting from this conflict, from trading of arms and exploiting public properties for personal purposes,” Ould Cheikh Ahmed said.
His concerns were echoed by UN humanitarian John Ging, who said three years of war had led to “catastrophic” conditions in Yemen, with some 1.1 million new cases of cholera since April 2017 and 8.4 million Yemenis on the brink of famine.
A proxy war is playing out in Yemen between Iran and US ally Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015, backing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government against the Houthis.
Ould Cheikh Ahmed will be replaced by Martin Griffiths, a veteran peace-broker and former British diplomat who currently runs the Brussels-based European Institute of Peace (EIP) and is expected to bring fresh approaches to ending the war.
Tuesday’s meeting comes amid the change of UN envoys and heightened diplomatic focus on a conflict that has hitherto garnered few headlines and little interest from major powers despite what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.