WASHINGTON: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that some Taliban had legitimate grievances given the torture and ill treatment they had suffered and it was necessary to find a way to apologise and heal national wounds.
President Ghani said during the visit to Washington that officials in Pakistan and Afghanistan said last month that the Afghan Taliban had signaled they were willing to open peace talks with Kabul.
Ghani said peace with the insurgents was “essential” and that some Taliban members had legitimate grievances.
“People were falsely imprisoned, people were tortured. They were tortured in private homes or private prisons,” he said. “How do you tell these people that you are sorry?”
“We cannot sacrifice the future for the sake of the past. we must bring about a balance. If we go just looking at the past, we will be destroying the future,” he added.
Ghani, who became president last year, has been feted in a five-day US trip seeking to repair ties frayed under his predecessor, Hamid Karzai. In a speech to Congress on Wednesday he called national reconciliation a “pillar” of his government. He said Taliban members could find their way back into Afghan society, if they agreed to respect the constitution.
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