| Date: 13/05/2012 Time: 08:39:00 PM |
The French government on Sunday deplored the
assassination of Afghan mediator Maulvi Arsala Rahmani who was gunned down in
his car in the capital, Kabul.
Rahmani, a former Taliban, has joined efforts to negotiate a peaceful end
to the conflict and was a mediator between militants and the government of
President Hamid Karzai.
The slain mediator was a key figure in the inter-Afghan reconciliation
process and was a member of the Higher Council for Peace.
"France deplores the assassination of Maulvi Arsala Rahmani," the Foreign
Ministry said in a statement here.
"In these circumstances, France reiterates its support for the
implementation of an inclusive, inter-Afghan peace process that bring together
all components of Afghan society as well as the Taliban on condition they
commit to renouncing violence, dissociate themselves from Al-Qaeda and respect
the Afghan constitution," the statement added.
In a separate incident, two British soldiers were shot dead by renegade
Afghan policemen in the south of the country, bringing to 22 the number of
Coalition forces killed in this kind of incident since the beginning of the
year.
France had announced it was withdrawing its forces one year early from
Afghanistan due partly to several like incidents and deaths of six French
soldiers. Outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would bring the troops
home at the end of 2013, but his successor, who take power on Tuesday next,
says he will bring them home even earlier at the end of 2012.
Incoming President Francois Hollande intends to announce the controversial
early French withdrawal at the NATO summit on May 20-21 in Chicago. |