Qatar invites Pak FM for US-Taliban peace deal signing

Qatar on Tuesday extended a formal invitation to Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to attend the signing ceremony of the landmark peace deal between the US and Afghan Taliban in Doha on Saturday, the Foreign Office here said.

The invitation was extended by Qatar's Ambassador to Pakistan Saqr bin Mubarak Al-Mansouri in a meeting with Qureshi at the Foreign Office, reports The Express Tribune.

The US-Taliban deal will lay the ground for a crucial intra-Afghan dialogue focusing on the future of Afghanistan and a permanent ceasefire.

The peace deal was negotiated between the two sides over the past 18 months in Doha.

A seven-day "reduction in violence" pact came into effect on February 22 in Afghanistan a day after the US and Taliban announced the signing of the peace deal which will allow the withdrawal of the remaining 13,000 American troops the war-torn country in return for a guarantee by the militant group that they will not allow Afghan soil to be used again by any terrorist organisation.

Following the announcement, Qureshi had said that Pakistan and Qatar played a key role in brokering the peace deal, The Express Tribune reported.

He said Pakistan always maintained that solution to Afghan war lies in reconciliation -IANS