Sources told Afghanistan International that on November 23, prominent anti-Taliban figures, such as Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh, will speak at a meeting about Afghanistan in Russia.
The meeting has been organized by several political and research groups in Moscow.
According to the agenda, a copy of which has been reviewed by Afghanistan International, this "international conference" will be held under the name "Afghanistan between past and present".
In the Moscow meeting, only prominent anti-Taliban figures such as Ahmad Massoud, the leader of the National Resistance Front; Amrullah Saleh, former vice-president; Mohammad Mohaqiq, the leader of People's Islamic Unity Party; Fazl Ahmad Manawi, a member of the Resistance Front, and Mohammad Sadiq Taha, son of Ismail Khan, former governor of Herat, are scheduled to speak.
Other speakers of the conference include Fawzia Koofi and Shukria Barakzai, two female political and civil activists. No one from the Taliban or figures close to the group have been invited to the meeting.
Massoud is going to explain his views on the situation in Afghanistan and Saleh will talk about the Doha agreements between the US and the Taliban. Mohaqiq will talk about the international community’s engagement with the Taliban.
Taha is supposed to talk about the role of the countries in the region in Afghanistan, and Manawi will talk about the relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The Moscow international meeting will be organized by Russian political parties and research groups including the non-profit, the Just World Institute, and “A Just Russia Party” in cooperation with the Russian Academy of Sciences. Even though the Russian government does not seem to have a direct role in organising the meeting, several Russian participants are also from the Russian parliament.
Also, officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry were invited, but their names and positions were not included in the agenda.
According to the agenda reviewed by Afghanistan International, other invited participants of the meeting include senior NRF member Mahmoud Saiqal; former deputy speaker of the Afghan senate Mohammad Alam Izdyar, and other Afghan figures such as Bahauddin Jilani, Mashkur Kabuli, Khalil Andarabi, Zalmi Younusi, Sayed Baqer Mohseni, Munira Tarakhel, Baz Mohammad Ahmadi, Atiqullah Baryalai, Dadullah Qane, Noor Rahman Akhlaqi, and Shamsullah Arianfar.
Additionally, other invited figures include Abdullah Abdullah, the former Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, and Hamid Karzai, the former president; Mohammad Ismail Khan, Habib Ur Rahman Sayyaf, Tadin Khan, Almas Zahid, Sattar Hosseini, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Faizullah Zaki, Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, Zahir Tamim, Rahmatullah Yarmal, Pir Mohammad Khaksar, Alia Yilmaz and Khalid Pashtun.
However, it is not clear how many of these well-known politicians will attend the meeting. Previously, the Taliban prevented Abdullah and Karzai from participating in international meetings on Afghanistan.
