Dear Mr Trump, President of the United States of America,

We refer to the peace talks between the USA and the Taliban, which came to a halt on 9 September 2019.

The Afghan people yearn for a lasting peace. Wars often kill innocent people, including women and children. Our neighbouring countries would also welcome peace in Afghanistan. Pakistani president Imran Khan and foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reaffirmed their commitment to a peaceful solution to the Afghanistan conflict on 22 September 2019. Pakistan feels that it is also a victim of terrorism and suffers as a result.

We and many Afghan politicians know that Afghan president Ashraf Ghani and his Mafia gang are against a continuation of the peace talks. They want to sabotage a peace settlement. Mr Ghani and his Mafia gang have enriched themselves with public money and are afraid of losing their privileges in the event of peace.

Mr Ashraf Ghani is a master in terms of electoral fraud. He has been preparing for months to manipulate the planned presidential elections in his favour. He is already feeling confident of victory. For these reasons, we have boycotted the planned presidential elections. We will not recognise the outcome of these elections.

A peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict should remain the first option. Only if peace efforts were not to lead to the desired result would a military solution be the second option.

We ask you, Mr President, to give the peace talks with the Taliban — that are currently halted — another chance so that efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan can be restarted.

Best regards

Hayattullah Maiwand

1.Chairman of FDPA