A group of Afghan MPs, “a government official” and seven people linked to the Taliban met in the Maldives last weekend for secret talks, according to a report by Al Jazeera in Afghanistan.
According to the report, the talks were part of an ambitious plan to bring peace to the war-torn country by offering cash, jobs and incentives to Taliban fighters in exchange for laying down their arms.
The Al Jazeera report claimed the Taliban selected the Maldives as the venue for the meeting “because it was the only place the fighters felt safe.”
President's Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair acknowledged that the government had received reports of sightings of “a group of people who look like the Taliban wandering around the streets of Male’.”
"They bought watermelons and papayas from Local Market. They bought Dhiggaru Rihaakuru to take back to the mountains. They were just like any other tourist group from a passenger line visiting Male'," Zuhair said.
“Our stance is that the fact people happen to look like the Taliban doesn’t mean they should be labelled that way,” he said.
"We have a sad history of people being labelled. Umar Zahir labelling footballers with long hair. Adam Zahir labelling young men with long hair as drug addicts. Abdulla Hameed being labelled as gay. Gayoom being labelled as a dictator. Anni being labelled as someone who doesn't look like a President. Last, but not least, I am labelled as being always high on dope. We are trying to overcome such labelling and build a tolerant society under the MDP government," Zuhair explained.
The Taliban fighters arrived in Maldives in a tourist submarine operated by Umar Naseer, the leader of Ihthijaaj.
1 comment:
i agree with Zuhairu, we really should stop labeling people, like; Dr Shaheed as a hypocrite, Minister Aslam as being arrogant, Nafa Naseem for corruption, Hassan Saeed as a girl, Zahiya Zareer as eating too much, Adil Saleem as alcoholic and raping young girls...
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