Afghan President Warns Against ‘Hasty’ Peace Process

Ghani argues his 'clear plan' should be focus

With an important peace conference coming up in Istanbul, Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani seems to be taking a different approach. While other Afghan officials are trying to consolidate plans from dozens of proposals, Ghani is arguing that the focus is on his “clear” personal plan.

Ghani said he doesn’t want plans “from outside,” saying that his plan would necessarily be more inclusive. He also warned against any haste in trying to make peace, despite getting the stalled process going being the whole purpose of the conference.

Ghani’s plan hasn’t been totally made public, though parts of it have been released, including a nominal interim government, in which Ghani and his top aides would retain all of their power. Afghan officials say they are contending with 25 plans offered by different Afghan officials and political parties.

Ghani is reportedly also opposed to the US plan, which is reportedly very similar to his own plan, but which had a more open interim government that would include both government and Taliban figures.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.