Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

All of us Afghans would like to thank President Trump, the US government and the international community for the peace agreement of the 29th of February 2020 with the Taliban.

Every Afghan is delighted by this peace agreement and hopes for lasting peace and joy in Afghanistan.

President Trump is a good-hearted, honest and generous politician.

He has set himself the goal of peace and joy in the world.

According to the peace agreement, the Taliban demand the release of 5,000 Taliban members from Afghan state prisons.

Today, on live TV, Mr Ashraf Ghani refused to release the 5,000 imprisoned Taliban members. It is thus obvious that Mr Ghani is sabotaging the peace efforts. Mr Ghani has also sabotaged peace talks several times in the past.

We call on Mr Ghani to release the 5,000 Taliban prisoners immediately and unconditionally in order to fulfil the peace agreement. Otherwise, the hoped-for peace could be jeopardised and the country might fall into crisis.

If Mr Ghani is toying with the idea of calling a “Loya Jirga” (big meeting) to decide on the release of the 5,000 Taliban prisoners, this would be a trick to bring about a decision in his favour. He also convened a “Loya Jirga” in 2019 to discuss peace with the Taliban, wasting more than 5 million US dollars from the state treasury. We will not recognise the decision of a Loya Jirga.

We, the Afghan people, Afghan politicians and the Taliban do not recognise Mr Ghani as President.

Best regards

Hayattullah Maiwand

1.Chairman of FDPA