Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo meets Taliban leader

Kabul: NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo on Friday said he met with the Head of the Taliban’s Political Commission, Mullah Baradar, as part of the peace process.

The envoy stressed the need for a substantial and sustainable reduction in violence that corresponds to the wish of all Afghans and favours the peace negotiations

Earlier, Ambassador Pontecorvo said Afghans killing Afghans at this stage made no sense

He said that a real reduction of violence was the confidence building measure needed to take intra-Afghan peace talks forward.

“At a certain point, I am very much afraid that the peace process would become unsustainable if the violence continues this way,” Ambassador Pontecorvo said. “It really does not make sense to keep talking, to keep a peace process alive with these levels of violence.”

Asked about NATO’s future support, Ambassador Pontecorvo said that in a post intra-Afghan talks scenario, there would need to be a formal invitation to keep operating in Afghanistan, by the legitimate government that comes out of the talks. He said that the invitation will have to be discussed and approved by NATO.