A U.S. congressional delegation met with top Afghan opposition leaders in Berlin Monday to discuss alternative strategies to the Obama administration’s plans to negotiate with the Taliban as part of a proposed peace strategy.
The bi-partisan delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee Chairman of Oversight Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, held a private meeting with Afghans who are concerned that members of the Taliban would cut a deal for political power without their participation.
“All participants in this meeting agreed that if the Taliban wants to participate in running for Democratic office, they should be permitted to do so, but they should not be included in a backroom deal among power brokers so that they would hold some kind of authority and power in an upcoming Afghan government,” Rohrabacher said.
Former Afghan Vice President Ahmed Zia Massoud Shah, now chairman of the National Front, and former deputy defense minister Abdul Rashid Dostum were among the Afghans who attended the meeting.
