Afghan president says he will oppose peace deal without his government

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday that no peace deal between the Taliban and the United States could be finalised without involving his government as “the decision-maker”.

Ghani’s government has so far been shut out of the evolving peace talks between Taliban negotiators and U.S. envoys to end more than 17 years of war, with the hardline Islamist movement branding his government as a U.S. puppet.

His made his remarks in a television interview as Afghan opposition politicians, including his predecessor Hamid Karzai, meet Taliban representatives in Moscow.

“At the end of any peace deal, the decision-maker will be the government of Afghanistan,” Ghani told TOLO News, the country’s largest private television station.

“No power in the country can dissolve the government,” he said, adding that he was ready to “stand and defend our country”.

“Rest assured that no-one can push us aside,” he said. - Read More
Afghan president says he will oppose peace deal without his government

Kabul sees Taliban-Afghan opposition talks in Moscow as betrayal