CORRECTS - Afghan delegation due at Nov. 9 Moscow conference

CORRECTS MISIDENTIFICATION OF TALIBAN TUESDAY SAYING WILL ATTEND CONFERENCE; ARTICLE REWRITTEN TO SHOW HIGH PEACE COUNCIL ACCEPTED INVITATION ON WEDNESDAY

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - A top negotiating body in Afghanistan, the High Peace Council, announced on Wednesday that it would attend a peace conference this week in Russia.

Syed Ehsan Tahiri, spokesman for the HPC, told a press conference in the Afghan capital Kabul that a four-member delegation would attend the Friday conference in Moscow. He added that the group would be led by the council’s deputy chair, Haji Deen Mohammad, accompanied by its members Attaur Rehman, Abdul Khaber, and Habiba Sarabi.

The Taliban have already announced they will send a five-member delegation from their “Political Office in Qatar” to the Moscow meeting.

A number of Afghan politicians, including former President Hamid Karzai, have also been invited to the gathering.

Afghan officials have downplayed the significance of the Moscow huddle. Earlier this week, Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani told reporters alongside visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that peace efforts would be led by the Afghans themselves.

The proposed meeting was scheduled to take place in September, but due to the reservations and requests of the Afghan government, Russia postponed it.

According to local Salam Afghanistan radio, Kabul wanted to jointly host the conference, but fearing a backlash from the Taliban, Moscow declined to facilitate this request.

The U.S., Pakistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were also invited to the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to address the participants, the ministry added.