KABUL:Â Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will put forward a three-phase peace roadmap for Afghanistan during a proposed meeting in Turkey, seeking an agreement with the Taliban and a ceasefire before elections, a document seen by Reuters shows.
Ghaniâs plan will be presented as a counter to proposals put forward by Washington, rejected by the Afghan government, that envisage immediately drawing up a new legal system for an interim administration to include Taliban representatives.
The document shows Ghaniâs âReaching an Endstateâ proposal will include, in the first phase, a consensus on a political settlement and an internationally monitored ceasefire.
The second phase will be holding a presidential election and the establishment of a âgovernment of peaceâ and implementation arrangements for moving towards the new political system.
The third phase will involve building a âconstitutional framework, reintegration of refugees and developmentâ for Afghanistan moving forward.
A senior government official said Ghani has already shared his road map with foreign capitals.
A date for the Turkey meeting is yet to be decided, but multiple sources told Reuters it could take place in two weeksâ time.
The Afghan government and a number of politicians said they would have to agree on an agenda with the Taliban before the meeting.
In a statement last month, the Taliban threatened to resume hostilities against foreign troops in Afghanistan if they did not meet the May 1 deadline envisaged in an agreement between the insurgents and the Trump administration last year.
U.S. President Joe Biden said this month it would be âhardâ to withdraw the last U.S. troops from Afghanistan by May 1 âjust in terms of tactical reasonsâ, but he said he did not think they still would be there next year.
A senior government official said the Taliban was willing to extend the May 1 dateline and would not resume attacks against foreign forces in exchange for the release of thousands of their prisoners held by the Kabul authorities.
Mohammad Naeem, a Taliban spokesman in Qatar, said no such offer had been made.