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KABUL: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has supported early peace parleys between the Afghan government and the Taliban to the end the 15-year-old conflict in the landlocked country.
“We support negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban, as the situation in the region depends on their results,” Steinmeier told a joint conference with his Kyrgyz counterpart Erlan Abdydalyev in Bishkek.
AKI press quoted the visiting German minister as saying that recent terrorist attacks had highlighted the need for all-out cooperation among nations in the international war on terrorism and extremism.
Speaking on the occasion, Abdydalyev suggested the creation of the Afghanistan Studies Centre at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. The most serious security threats to Central Asia emanated from Afghanistan, he claimed.
He identified the threats as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. The proposed research centre would provide information about the situation in Afghanistan to all OSCE states, he said.
“I think the proposed initiative will be one concrete contribution to the strengthening of our cooperation and will find the support of all members of the organisation,”Abdydalyev believed. -(Pajhwok)
THE PASHTUN TIMES
