Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen made clear, in an interview published today with The Associated Press, that the Taliban will not agree to a ceasefire until a government they can accept has been installed in Kabul, meaning a government without current President Ashraf Ghani at the head of it. “I want to make it clear that we do not believe in the monopoly of power because any governments who (sought) to monopolize power in Afghanistan in the past, were not successful governments,” said Shaheen, apparently including the Taliban’s own five-year rule in that assessment. “So we do not want to repeat that same formula.”
But he was also uncompromising on the continued rule of Ghani, calling him a warmonger and accusing him of using his July 20 speech on the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Adha (following rocket fire on the presidential residence in Kabul) to promise an offensive against the Taliban. Shaheen dismissed Ghani’s right to govern, resurrecting allegations of widespread fraud that surrounded Ghani’s 2019 election win. After that vote, both Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah declared themselves President, AP reported. After a compromise deal, Abdullah is now No. 2 in the government and heads the reconciliation council.
