Afghanistan released one third of prisoners, Beijing and Berlin want to help Afghanistan to overcome the crisis
April 29, 2020 | 18:04 |1751
A total of 12,399 inmates convicted for different crimes would be pardoned as part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Rashid Totakhail, the head of prison affairs, told, Khaama Press reports. According to Totakhail, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree to release inmates. Under a decree issued by Ghani earlier, 6124 prisoners were released. According to the agency, at present, there are more than 40,000 prisoners in Afghanistan. Such number of prisoners causes the authorities of the country “serious concern” amid the coronavirus spread in the country. At present, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Afghanistan is 1,703, media informs.
Beijing supports Kabul’s proposal on peace
Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Wang Yi had a phone call with Afghan Acting Foreign Minister Hanif Atmar, Xinhua reports. Atmar hailed China’s effective COVID-19 response and thanked China for providing large amount of medical supplies and sharing experience. Foreign minister stressed that the Afghan government is firmly committed to the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan, and has formulated plans for a comprehensive ceasefire and the opening of intra-Afghan negotiations. Afghanistan highly appreciates China’s constructive role and hopes that China will continue to work with regional countries to urge Taliban to reach early agreement with the Afghan government. Afghanistan, in turn, is also firmly committed to promoting the tripartite cooperation with China and Pakistan, Atmar added. Wang Yi noted that, in addition to its provision of emergency medical supplies urgently needed in Afghanistan; China will do its best to further support the country in light of its needs. ”We will continue to take good care of the Afghan nationals in China and trusts that the Afghan government will also ensure the safety and health of Chinese nationals in Afghanistan”, he noted. Wang Yi expressed support for the Afghan government's positive proposals on peace and reconciliation and confirmed that China stands ready to continue to support, mediate and facilitate the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and further play its constructive role. In addition, he added that China is willing to hold a China-Afghanistan-Pakistan foreign ministers’ dialogue at an appropriate time to push forward cooperation among the three countries.Berlin urges Abdullah Abdullah to overcome the crisis of power
German Ambassador to Afghanistan, Peter Prügel, twitted that he had discussed ways to overcome the current political deadlock in Afghanistan with the former Prime Minister – the self-proclaimed President Abdullah Abdullah. Ambassador cited that he had a “constructive discussion with Dr. Abdullah on the urgent need to overcome the political impasse in Afghanistan.” He said, “He hopes that an inclusive government (that includes all the interests of society) will be formed to focus on peace process and effectively deal with the COVID-19 issue.” Last week, members of the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of the Afghan parliament, warned that the country will face more challenges and the crisis will deepen if the political tensions between President Ghani and his political opponent Abdullah Abdullah remain unsolved. “The continuation of the political tension intensifies the war in favor of the Taliban,” the afghan senators say.
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah have been in confrontation and competition since years – there was a dispute amid a previous election in 2014, but that time a compromise was reached with the assistance of the United States. This time, US intervention did not help, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that annual aid to Afghanistan would be cut by $ 1 billion in 2020 and 2021.
