KABUL, 24 July 2021, (TON): A Taliban spokesman has said that they don’t want to monopolize power but insisted that there won’t be peace in Afghanistan until there is a new negotiated government in Kabul and President Ashraf Ghani is removed.

In an interview, Taliban spokesman and a member of the group’s negotiating team, said “the Taliban will lay down their weapons when a negotiated government acceptable to all sides in the conflict is installed in Kabul and Ghani’s government is gone.”

Shaheen said “I want to make it clear that we do not believe in the monopoly of power because any governments who (sought) to monopolize power in Afghanistan in the past, were not successful governments.”

“So we do not want to repeat that same formula.”

He called the talks a good beginning but said the government’s repeated demands for a ceasefire while Ghani stayed in power were tantamount to demanding a Taliban surrender.

He said “they don’t want reconciliation, but they want surrendering.”

Before any ceasefire, there must be an agreement on a new government acceptable to us and to other Afghans.