‘Qur’an burning will affect Taliban talks’ - Gayo Lues

On February 20, US soldiers burned the copies of Qur’an and other Islamic texts at the US-run Bagram Airbase, southeast of the city of Charikar in the Afghan province of Parwan.

Condemning the desecration of Qur’an, Maleki said after such an incident US actions in Afghanistan will come under criticism and they will face more problems.

“While the US disrespecting Muslim sanctities is nothing new but what happened in Bagram [Airbase] in Afghanistan has resulted in new forms of popular rage and drawn reactions from both parliaments –reactions that stem from the national and religious will of Afghans,” he added.

Following the Qur’an desecration US President Barack Obama sent a letter to his Afghan counterpart Hamed Karzai, apologizing for the actions of American forces in Afghanistan. Obama told Karzai that the incident was not intentional, which sparked angry protests against US and NATO forces in Afghanistan and other countries.

Afghans have rejected the apology and demanded an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops from their country. Anti-US demonstrations in the country have now entered their fifth consecutive day.

“It’s natural that the US-Taliban talks in Qatar will be affected after this incident,” the Iranian envoy added.

American and officials Taliban representatives have secretly negotiated for more than a year. During the negotiations, the US gave the Taliban the opportunity to open an office in Qatar and agreed to release high-ranking Taliban prisoners.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai accepted the US proposal to let militants establish an office outside Afghanistan under pressure from the White House.

The US-led war on Afghanistan was launched under the pretext of toppling the Taliban regime. A decade after failing in its objectives, the White House has now decided to negotiate with the militant group.

MYA/AZ/HGH