The cancelation of the intra-Afghan meeting in Qatar met with strong reaction by Afghan critics and former Taliban members who called it “disappointing” and a “lost opportunity” towards peace in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The meeting was canceled on the disagreement of Qatari government with the Afghan delegation’s formation, the Presidential Palace acknowledged in a statement issued late on Thursday.

“Unfortunately, Doha meeting was canceled because some people whose interests will be in danger do not want peace to come,” said Mawlawi Abdul Shakur, a former member of Taliban said. 

“If they (the Afghan government and the US) wanted, they could handle the issue because they had everything under control. An airplane could come and would transfer all members of the delegation to Doha. But it shows that they are not supporting peace and it seems that the US is also not sincere in its will for peace,” said Nazar Mohammad Mutmaeen, a political analyst. 

Other critics said they expect that another intra-Afghan meeting will take place in Uzbekistan in mid-May.

“After the Doha meeting, there will be a meeting in Samarkand and it is a kind of meeting for starting an intra-Afghan dialogue. Now as Doha meeting has not happened, for me it looks like the date of Samarkand meeting also may change,” said Faiz Mohammad Zaland, a university lecturer. 

“The Samarkand meeting will be a negotiation platform and so far, an agreement has not been made about its details that how the Afghan government will attend the event and who will participate from the Afghan side,” said Fawzia Kofi, a former MP. 

In reaction to the cancelation of the Qatar meeting, Taliban in a statement said it was an attempt by the Kabul government to cancel the conference.

“Participants of the meeting could mention their personal views, but the Kabul government in meetings at the Presidential Palace mentioned issues such as red lines and conditions. 

Also, the government issued a list of the participants of the meeting before sharing it with the organizers of the meeting, which the list was neither proportionate with the event’s venue nor it was possible to admit all the participants,” Taliban said in a statement.

“Taliban believes that the government ‘deliberately’ tried to create disorder in this regard,” the statement read.

The Meeting Canceled

The Presidential Palace in the statement on Thursday said that the Doha meeting was "canceled" as the Qatar government did not accept the Afghan delegation's list and instead suggested a new list "which was not acceptable to the Afghan government".

“After completion of preparations of the delegation for going to (Qatar), Qatar government sent a new list which was not balanced in terms of involvement of the people of Afghanistan and in other words it was a disrespect to the national will of the Afghan people and this is not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan,” the statement said.

“A group of politicians at a meeting with President Ashraf Ghani agreed that the act by the Qatari government is not acceptable and they decided to ask the Qatari government to allow the attendance of the Afghan delegation selected by Afghanistan,” the statement said. “As far as the government of Qatar could not practice our legitimate suggestion, the Doha conference was canceled.”

The statement said that the government and the people of Afghanistan are committed to achieving a dignified peace and will continue their sincere efforts in this respect.

Meanwhile, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said in a tweet that he is “disappointed” that Qatar's intra-Afghan initiative “has been delayed”.

“We’re in touch with all parties and encouraged that everyone remains committed to dialogue and the Afghan peace process,” he said.

“Dialogue is and always will be key to a political roadmap and lasting peace. There is no alternative. I urge all sides to seize the moment and put things back on track by agreeing to a participant list that speaks for all Afghans. I stand ready to help if our help is needed,” he tweeted.

Former President Hamid Karzai said a statement that the Doha meeting was delayed but added that Afghans will continue their efforts for peace through an intra-Afghan meeting in the near future.

Sultan Barakat, Director of Doha Institute, who was expected to host the Afghans-Taliban meeting in Qatar said in a tweet that the meeting was delayed as it is “unfortunately necessary to further build consensus as to who should participate in the conference”.

“There is no disagreement over agenda items and nobody is questioning the serious commitment of all sides to achieving peace. Rather, there is insufficient agreement around participation and representation to enable the conference to be a success Doha Afghan talks,” he said.