Fawzia Koofi, a prominent Afghan woman politician and a member of the Afghan republic negotiation team, on Monday, claimed that Doha talks are entering into a new phase now, TOLOnews reported. 

Though Koofi didn’t provide any further details regarding her statement; her statement bears significance as it comes amid a lot of murmurs regarding the possible procedural agreements that might have reached between the Afghan republic team and the Taliban. The Afghan presidential palace denied the claim that the final agreement on procedural has been reached, but multiple reports (including Reuters), citing sources from both sides, indicated that the parties have agreed on 21 points procedural rules. 

The reports also stated that the current deadlock and refusal to the final announcement has to do with the recognising the Afghan government as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The Taliban doesn’t recognize the Afghan government, thus objecting to the official name. 

On the other hand, the Taliban calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan- an entity not recognized by the Afghan government. And the government is objecting to naming the insurgent group as “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.” Doing so would naturally mean the legitimization of the insurgent group. 

Dr. Muhammad Naeem, the spokesperson of the Taliban’s Doha Office on Saturday tweeted announcing the agreement but the claim was denied by the Afghan presidential palace. 

Citing sources close to President Ghani, TOLOnews said  the government will make an announcement on the agreement once the High Council for National Reconciliation, under the chairmanship of Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, becomes functional. 

Recently both, Ghani and Abdullah, faced heat from international and Afghan leaders over the delay in appointing members in the Reconciliation Council. The Council was established to provide direction to the republic negotiating team who has been engaged with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar since 12 September.