Formal meetings between both sides of the Afghan peace negotiations in Doha have been suspended for the past 10 days and it is not clear when the meetings will be resumed.

Despite recent efforts in the diplomatic fronts in the past two weeks, the two sides of the negotiations have not managed so far to reach a conclusion about the procedural rules intended to kick start the direct peace negotiations aimed at ending the decades-long war in Afghanistan.

The two sides have agreed on 18 out of 20 articles for the procedural rules, but two main articles—religious basis for the talks and connection of the US-Taliban deal with the negotiations—remain unsolved. The Taliban insists that if a dispute emerges during the negotiations, the solution must be sought in the Hanafi jurisprudence and that the foundation for the talks should be the peace deal that the group signed with the US in late February. But the Afghan republic team has rejected the Taliban’s demands and has suggested some alternatives to the demands.

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-166950