Helmand Peace Convoy members, who arrived in Kabul on Monday, met with President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday afternoon and ran through a list of demands for peace.
They said the country has no choice but to work for peace and that this can only be achieved through intra-Afghan talks without the interference of foreigners so as to maintain a sense of honor for Afghans.
One peace activist addressed the president and listed their demands.
Among the demands was a one-year ceasefire by government; a venue to be announced for peace talks and a “joint system” to be established – that is representative of all Afghans.
He also said that once there is peace and stability, foreign troops need to withdraw from Afghanistan.
The activists also called on the Taliban’s leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada to allow them to address the group – as Ghani has allowed them to address him.
They said they will continue their protest action until peace is achieved.
Meanwhile, Ghani said in response that government is ready to call for a one-year ceasefire and would do so if Taliban responds positively to the extended truce announced by Kabul on Sunday.
“I have already announced a ceasefire. If Taliban accepts it, I am ready to announce a one-year ceasefire,” Ghani said.
The president said he is ready to talk with the Taliban’s leader, Haibatullah, at a venue of his choice.
“If you want to sit in the desert I want to sit there, if you want to sit on grass we will sit there, and if you want to sit at Khirqa-e-Sharif (in Kandahar) we will sit and talk there… If you want to sit at a mosque or on a mountain, we will sit there,” he added.
“If Mawlawi Haibatullah wants to talk with me, he should come and talk to me without any preconditions,” he said.
He said as Afghanistan was home, there was no need for them to meet in any foreign country.
On the issue of withdrawing foreign troops from Afghanistan, Ghani said this would not be a difficult task after the major 2014 drawdown but that foreign forces were in the country to help Afghanistan. He also said once peace was achieved, the foreign troops would be withdrawn.
Speaking after the meeting, another peace convoy member said Ghani stated he would consider extending the ceasefire for a month.