Jamiat Leaders Meet Despite Feud to Discuss Afghan Peace

Four key leaders from Jamiat-e-Islami who broke into two factions eight months ago, held a session behind closed doors on Sunday night to discuss their differences and the country’s peace process, a member of the party said on Monday.

The unity of the party and the role of the party in the peace talks were part of the discussions in the meeting attended by Salahuddin Rabbani, Atta Mohammad Noor, Mohammad Yunus Qanooni and Ahmad Zia Massoud, according to Jamiat members who attended the meeting.

The leaders determined that Jamiat would be deprived of a key role in the country’s political developments if it failed to solve its differences, the source said.

The meeting was held at Zalmay Mujaddedi’s house, who is a member of the party.

“The meeting had no relation with the internal problems of Jamiat-e-Islami. It was held at the request of Jamiat-e-Islami leader Salahuddin Rabbani for the interest of members to unify their views on the upcoming meetings in Moscow and Turkey as well as about peace,” said Abdul Fatah Ahmadzai, a spokesman for Jamiat.

The rift between Salahuddin Rabbani as acting head of Jamiat, and Atta Mohammad Noor, the CEO of the party, developed eight months ago.

“Last night’s meeting–and another two meetings–mostly dealt with solving the internal problems of Jamiat. It means that if Jamiat-e-Islami cannot provide a mechanism for a solution, it will be deprived of political participation,” said Rahmatullah Bezhanpoor, a member of Jamiat-e-Islami Afghanistan.

The members of Jamiat’s leadership council said that they will announce their views on the US-proposed draft for peace and Blinken’s letter to President Ghani.

“Efforts are underway to bring together views from different layers in Jamiat, especially on peace, to form a unified stance,” said Waqif Hakimi, member of the leadership council of Jamiat.

Salahuddin Rabbani was made the acting leader of the party after his father and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani’s death in an explosion at the senior Rabbani’s house in Kabul in 2011.