This chapter is one of reconciliation progress not another chronicle of tears and bloodshed. Hailed as a historic opportunity that cannot be wasted afghanistans government meets the taliban for the 1st time to negotiate and and to 19 years of war they overcome persistent violence and contesting ideologies to any hope of peace. Welcome to the program. In doha what a diplomatic effort to decades of war in afghanistan is underway for the 1st time the Afghan Government and the taliban have met in the same rule its an achievement that follows dozens of rounds of talks prisoner exchanges and a cease fire against u. S. Forces negotiators from the highest level with sit face to face in doha to find a way to and nearly 20 years of conflict among the main challenges ahead of the establishment of a mutual and long lasting cease fire and the integration of the taliban into the government of afghanistan. For those we want all the people of afghanistan to be reunited under one roof again after more than 42 years of upheavals aggressions jihad and resistance all the negatives we all know what happened to us throughout these years and maybe stand today we now need to address this unique opportunity to move towards a new future that we can define together. But. We have acted accordingly to all the points outlined in the previous agreement and we are requesting the other side to act accordingly to those things that have been agreed to so we can have this process without any problems we want of understand to be an independent country and it should have a form of islamic system where all its citizens see themselves reflected. Correspondence. Is of the talks. For all of the relevant sides in the afghan conflict this was a historic moment as many of their leaders put it the afghan side saying that we need to learn to agree to disagree the u. S. Secretary of state saying that the afghans will not be left alone and the. Taliban saying that they are willing to negotiate and they are willing to learn and move forward from what is a new of a son so it is a momentous occasion which has brought all of these sides together for the 1st time without their foreign backers or interlocutors where afghans will be facing off with afghans and resolving difficult issues such as the status of Security Forces worse is. The constitution in afghanistan figuring out whether its going to be an emirate or a republic are all issues which are going to be difficult to say the least but both sides are adamant that they are going to fold these differences they are adamant that they are going to continue to talk and make sure that they realize that only talks and talking to each other and sitting on the negotiating table and compromise is the way forward and there is no military solution so this is the 1st day of these talks if the road to achieve here was bumpy the agreement coming to an agreement is going to be even more difficult and that is something that all sides agree the americans saying that yes it is up to the afghans to decide but theyre not going to leave them alone if they want they can come back and facilitate the negotiations as well but afghans both here in the Country Capital doha and in kabul are hopeful with the cautious hope that this could lead to words lasting peace in afghanistan or inside story some of it out of their. Some more about who is leading these talks. Is in charge of the Afghan Governments delegation has a former foreign minister and president ial candidate representing the taliban is this deputy chief more love i would love any but other he is also a taliban cofounder and special envoy that leads the u. S. Negotiators born in afghanistan he served as u. S. Ambassador under president george w. Bush and barack obama. Lets bring in gas from. A him Founding Member of the Afghanistan Affairs unit a think tank former member of the High Peace Council here in doha is sort of founding director of the center for conflict and humanitarian studies in washington d. C. Is almost from a former afghan ambassador to france and canada now a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council thank you all for joining us. Who would have thought that after all these years the 2 arch rivals the taliban and the government would sit together and negotiate a peace settlement isnt this a major development. Absolutely this is a watershed event as your reporter also said it is termed as an historic event and this is happening for the 1st time in over 4 decades of conflict in afghanistan where the conflict parties are sitting across the table to each other if you go back into into the history during the late eightys there was negotiations geneva a process that will support even there the one partys didnt face each other on the negotiation table it was among the actors the d facilitating from our sect here sitting under one single roof talking about issues talking to the media that is i dare put all of our that has been operating from kabul and theyre talking to them and i answering the questions i think its a huge huge straight forward stride in terms of achieving peace in afghanistan but lets not get do you did by this progress the next step is the absolute. Difficult one crucial one and could decide the fate of this conflict so yes there is a lot of hope attached to it it is john significant move forward a lot of course just optimism sultan a few among the few years ago the taliban on the run they were determined that they were the only legitimate authority in afghanistan saying with peter live there is absolutely no way they would meet with a puppet government this is the term that they have been using for many years to describe the political establishment in kabul no they made a massive concession and the sitting together with that government is not only its own a significant achievement. Of course it is so if you take it from the point of view of that there are a great object and that is to get the United States to its or its troops from afghanistan as a ready being achieved their 29th of february agree. Has committed the United States to scared out its troops and ultimately to recruits for then they see that bigotry is already there now theyre moving into a 2nd phase the 2nd phase which is also an integral part of the United States is about reaching a colony understanding with the rest of the afghans as to the future of their country and this is very important in any event in order to allow the agreement that theyve struck with ministers to be innocent there they cant go any further without making sure that there is a government that is. So grown acceptable by all and a government which the United States will hand over their military bases and under and start a new set of relationship before we continue this is some of what the u. S. Secretary of state and mike brown pale said before the talks began each of you hope you will look into your heart and. Each of you carry a great responsibility. But no no that youre not alone the entire world want you to succeed and if counting on you succeeding. Alma what do you think will be the issue which is going to top the agenda between the taliban and the Afghan Government in the coming days and weeks well there are a lot of issues of course in both sides are coming to this with their mind set on what the agenda should look like and its sort of the roadmap that needs to be figured out by both sides and they have already established 2 small committees admin press each to look into this issue just in the past hour or 2 and to see how the agenda can be shaped in with that they will agree on the items on the agenda and on iraq are using it then organizing and you wait that is possible and agreeable to pull out now but its part of our we do know. A lot of issues to talk about and i think the are very well organized in looking back at how did they have with the americans theres a lot of experience there and they would like to see things sequence in a certain way kabul obviously have been focused quite a bit on how to reduce violence and their preference is to have a permanent ceasefire announced as an artist in this possible we dont know if the taliban are going to agree to that would be going to condition that on some other than active cooling maybe how to deal with the the fact that afghanistan needs a transition so i think that the next few hours in the next few days are critical in terms of setting the agenda and path who the negotiations smushed turquoise spoke earlier about those who are representing both delegation has a lot of below behalf of the Afghan Government and the ability any but of the on behalf of the taliban how whether theres been some major wish us well over the past few days about the makeup of the taliban. Delegation with. A chief negotiator is this an indication of the taliban a sending its toughest people to the talks in doha to ensure this is absolutely no concession in the near future well one can see it from that perspective that you dont want to give any concession but my eating is different i believe some of the taliban bigwigs were not very much happy with the way things were being taken forward with the americans and there was a what do you attach to this process that we me see a big break up among the taliban ranks in order to get wired dark and in order to make sure theyre done hardliners have a say in the Decision Making and remain on the top of the team. For so that a wide any sort of a situation where the decision is made on a day negotiation table and that is not not backed by a certain individuals or certain groups within the taliban ranks so theyre trying to make sure their doors who have more of a hardliner sort of stand there and Big Decisions so that which will it be easier it will be implemented with those which are not that strong in the stands as far as n. T. Government or anti american rhetorical skins are so funny it was quite interesting that both my pump and i believe the law spoke about the need for a lasting cease fire to be implemented but do you think of this is something that could be possible given the fact that the taliban may not be willing to commit themselves to a massive concession before the can see that some of the calls have been reciprocated i think its possible i think the gave. To the United States. It did refer to a cease fire as being one of the men elements we discussed 1st try me. So although the engine is that to the against where there are some. Pains that temporarily be agreed and cease fire reduction of violence is one. Time event has been reluctant to insert into long cease fires for over the last 2 years but they have accepted the short cease fire is criticizing with the senate. And also they have accepted or introduced a new term of reduction of violence which has extended for some time however the now as the talks there is pressure from both sides to try and increase the heat on the other nerve to get a greater degree of the sessions from from them so we are hearing that the taliban are trying to advance and share area in the north and also that some external countries are supporting you know no calls to arm against iran so all of these issues i think. Will be part of this discussion as we know it and i suspect as about the last fall shes fire is is really the most important aspect for the majority of that dans fight against on the ground if you have near its 40 years plus in violence and for these talks to be meaningful some kind of serious reduction in violence. By. Arma from from a mulatto mother all the way to able to law as a whole is a current leader of the taliban the central piece of the narrative was basically of the Islamic Emirate based on sharia law that has been there but on death what do you think that they were that would be able to make any concession about this and join jokes about incorporating said alloway of western principle of democracy to be able to bridge the gap with the government in kabul i think that. For most afghans. The rule going back to the ninetys they have. This notion of what the emirate stands for and most are uncomfortable with that i am not quite sure if the taliban will stick to a label be prepared i think to work with the system i think that they would focus on what kind of an islamic system will or can emerge as part of the talks at the place remember the that i understand that the need anything that has to indian to its people whether its the western concept of a system that doesnt work very well or whether its an islamic or extreme version our interpretation of a system that also is probably not so welcomed by most so what we need to do is create a bigger tent that can accommodate all the different persuasions that exist in this month a month a culture a society that constant is and we need to make sure that theres a balance between rule and urban between genders the ethnic minorities in all so to come to an agreement that would require very thoughtful deliberation in discussions Going Forward between people who really know what it is about it shouldnt be about power struggle it shouldnt be about you know control over territories even thought that is an important aspect. Well it moved on to our system i think it would be on a barge and hopefully the other side. Which is which is largely just the government now they are after the tribes ok stay with us i want to work the u. S. Taliban agreement signed in february which paved the way for these talks it gave us and nato forces 14 months to leave afghanistan the pentagon plans to have fewer than 5000 troops and personnel remaining by the end of november in return the taliban committed to preventing other groups including al qaida from using afghanistan as a base to threaten the u. S. And its allies and the Afghan Government has freed nearly 5000 taliban prisoners and agreed in august to release more. One of the issues that people are not talking about think is going to be a major issue which is the ethnic divide in the country and you know that particularly the passion thing to the point where the the government itself based in in kabul has suffered from this divide for for many many years would it be possible to turn that chapter to have the taliban and all the components of the nic divide. Move forward you see im honest i have been to quantum conflict has inflicted so many damages on the society its not only can it divide that is why. Some ethnic groups there is a divide of argue logically be wired among the different groups that we have omar samad talked about are been. Divided that we have there are so many divides in this country and most of them are caused are inflicted by the long and protracted conflict now walking forward afghanistan is in certain need of a very strong force on flick these 1000000000 gaging that there should be. Topped by the discussion of nation building but right now if you see 2 decades long even born conference their quest for style of on time post 911 agreement on the current state system that meeting was ended based on no centric divide of the problem among different groups since then you have had power sharing based on ethnicity thats going to be a major problem in future is well thought about are not out of money in any case afghanistan is need of a strong nation building your gender where ideology is where wishing for future shows should supercede should exceed. Shortsighted at the centric attitude towards politics and and state and its been done well do the region of play as i stand here were talking about russia India Pakistan and iran which have made just takes in afghanistan. Well there are all of course very important to achieve a sustainable peace in afghanistan and some already declared position that its very much and see. Every institution of the stomach ever it and that in a sense have drawn the line and this is i suspect why one of the today did not refer to release. The enterprise and siege it back in 2001 by the city or fair to a system that is based on stomach because now i think that actually will not find a lot of resistance you know can stand up to standards really this time its public can stand on its own and on its own home of the cover of the country it is about how to structure the this state and to what extent. Is is is. In the super affairs and in the politics of the state. A i think it most of the very countries in support of peaceful afghanistan and they have come out day in the opening surgery a lot of think clear. Or with the exception for truth the iranian and it was on the edge and some reason that i mean what i did not there was no its a hunch by the far but every other conceit has spoken and 3 are supporting this process. Decent against time kind of and we can choose to stand and the conflict was not caused entirely locally and was not maintained iraq movement it is right its theres d a lot of proxies that are here that lots of funding from outside intervention and a couple of regional powers. Playing a cold war ok and stan as far as the situation pretty United States and the circuit united. Pakistan plays a crucial role in the region and it has been closely monitoring the situation in the country do you think that they will be. Wanting to move forward with an outcome that would see the taliban for example form a National Unity government along with the political establishment based in kabul well pakistan is an important player it has according to the americans played a constructive role so far according to some afghans they are very skeptical about what pakistan intentional still are going back to the ninetys and in the last 10 years or so but i think that we have reached a point i think that are also like everybody else has learned a lot of lessons from the act on conflict and hoping that they will have a new paradigm shift the focus is on making sure that afghans can come together that they can poor something that is afghan only back on the lead and that stability in a condo king will be the consequence positive consequence of the regent park stance so were hoping that they will do neal to play a constructive role but afghans at the same time have to make sure that they play a role in the region that balances all the interests in does not create. A void for proxy warfare to take over again gentlemen i have one minute and i would appreciate 15 seconds answer from each of you would you see a horns and a long horns and along with the government in kabul meeting together in the near future announcing a National Unity government which the 1st its going to be a difficult part ahead or its it is going to be a difficult process but there is a lot of optimism attached to it unity government maybe Transitional Government probably in Term Government some sort of a monkey or should be part of the deal sultan. I think the existing government resists any form of interim government. And it is natural i think its probably too early to talk about an interim government there are many other. Ringback groups for us shoes that need to be addressed before we go into ok were currently. Are not well i think eventually we need to transition how is she is going to depend on how these discussions grow in construct it will be this would rule at the end of the day i think compromise and if you are going to be very more sites thank you lets see what happens in the coming days and weeks a definitely crucial moment for a country that has been beset by war divisions bloodshed and instability has stuck to him full time back at almost summer i really appreciate your contribution and your insight and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website dot com for further discussion go to our Facebook Page that is facebook dot com forward slash a. J. Its a story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is a. J. And say slowly from me how she and the entire team here in doha by phone up. Johnnies of danger. And hope im working tools to move to give to break. Out is there a wild follows for refugees facing the challenge of building a life in europe while staying close to their roots i still have this more open book or so im very proud of what i call entirely im not going to insure a place of refuge growth and im still on aljazeera. When the news breaks and racism protests continue in a number of cities across the United States when people need to be hurt in this tulsa area line nearly 500 points were destroyed and about 80 percent of this land does aljazeera has teams on the ground people are just talking about wind and solar as if thats going to solve the problem if want to bring you more on mood when documentaries and life moves on and on line. One of australias most love making and im the one that is under threat from an agonizing to say one wild one term for you know hes dedicating a lot of deciding what i want to east makes the woman whos 100. 0020. With every. This is al jazeera. Are watching the news hour live from the headquarters in doha im terry coming up in the next 60 minutes direct peace talks for the 1st time Afghan Government and taliban leaders begin to go she ations to end decades of fighting. With good intentions to be allies good able peace negotiations should move forward with a lot of patience. Rounded up and detained by