Agencies/Doha

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai chaired a session of official talks at the Emiri Diwan yesterday.  
The session was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and a number of ministers.
On the Afghan side it was attended by members of the official delegation accompanying President Karzai.
Talks during the session dealt with relations between the two countries and means of developing them, as well as matters of mutual concern.
QNA said the talks examined “the perspectives for peace in Afghanistan” but did not elaborate.
Afterwards, the Emir hosted a luncheon banquet in honour of the Afghan president and his accompanying delegation.
Later in the evening President Karzai left Doha wrapping up a visit to Qatar.
He was seen off at Doha International Airport by HE the Minister of State Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah, Qatar’s ambassador to Pakistan and non-resident ambassador to Afghanistan  Sayar Abdurrahman Jassem al-Maawdah and Charge d’Affaires at Afghanistan embassy in Doha Mohamed Qasim Himmat.
Afghanistan’s presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP before Karzai’s visit, “We will discuss the peace process, of course, and the opening of an office for the Taliban in Qatar.”  
“If we want to have talks to bring peace to Afghanistan, the main side must be the Afghan government’s representatives — the High Peace Council, which has members from all the country’s ethnic and political backgrounds,” Faizi added.
Kabul has repeatedly stressed that it will only start talks if the militants break all links with Al Qaeda and give up violence, and Faizi said any Taliban office in Qatar must be subject to strict conditions.
“It can only be an address where the armed opposition sit and talk to the Afghanistan government,” he said. “This office cannot be used for any other purposes.”