Under-pressure Taliban to meet EU, US in diplomatic push
DOHA, Qatar — The Taliban will hold joint face-to-face talks with European and US envoys, the EU said on Monday, as the hardline Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for international support.
Afghanistan's new rulers are seeking recognition, as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in August following the withdrawal of US troops after 20 years of war.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world to donate more money to Afghanistan to head off its economic collapse, but also slammed the Taliban's "broken" promises to Afghan women and girls.
EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said officials from the US and Europe would meet representatives of Afghanistan's new authorities for talks facilitated by Qatar in Doha on Tuesday.
She said the meeting would "allow the US and European side to address issues" including free passage for people wanting to leave, access for humanitarian aid, respect for the rights of women and preventing Afghanistan becoming a haven for "terrorist" groups.
"This is an informal exchange at technical level. It does not constitute recognition of the 'interim government'," she said.
The Taliban badly need allies as Afghanistan's economy is in a parlous state with international aid cut off, food prices rising and unemployment spiking.
The regime, still yet to be recognised as a legitimate government by any other country, is also facing a threat from the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), who have launched a series of deadly attacks.
A meeting with the EU was announced earlier by the Taliban's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, days after he led its first in-person talks with United States officials since the American pullout.
"We want positive relationships with the whole world. We believe in balanced international relations. We believe such a balanced relationship can save Afghanistan from instability," Muttaqi said in translated remarks at an event in Qatar.
Ahead of the talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was looking to bolster its direct aid to the Afghan people in an effort to stave off "collapse".
"We cannot 'wait and see'. We need to act, and act quickly," Borrell said after discussions with EU development ministers.
The international community is facing a tough balancing act trying to get urgently-needed aid to Afghans without endorsing Taliban rule.
Guterres underscored discontent with the Taliban over its treatment of women despite vows it would not repeat its earlier hardline rule.
"I am particularly alarmed to see promises made to Afghan women and girls by the Taliban being broken," he told reporters.
Without the participation of women "there is no way the Afghan economy and society will recover", Guterres said.
Security warning
Afghanistan's boys were allowed to return to secondary schools three weeks ago, but girls have been told to stay at home along with women teachers in much of the country, though they can attend primary school.
Asked about the exclusion of girls, Muttaqi said schools had been closed because of Covid-19 -- a threat he said had lessened.
"Covid... has been controlled and incidences are very few, and with the reduction of that risk, opening of schools has already started and every day it is increasing," he said.
Muttaqi also insisted there was no discrimination against the Shiite community and also claimed that IS-K was being tamed.
"Whatever preparations they had made have been neutralised 98 percent," he said.
IS-K claimed a bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed more than 60 people on Friday, the deadliest attack since the Taliban regained power.
Underlining the shaky security situation, the US and Britain warned their citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan, and singled out one hotel in Kabul.
"US citizens who are at or near the Serena Hotel should leave immediately," the US State Department said, citing "security threats" in the area.
The Serena, a luxury facility popular with business travellers and foreign guests, has twice been the target of attacks by the Taliban.
In 2014, just weeks before the presidential election, four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security, killing nine people, including an AFP journalist and members of his family.
Get the latest news as Taliban gains control of Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera/AFP
Afghanistan's supreme leader said Sunday the country's women were being saved from "traditional oppressions" by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as "free and dignified human beings" restored.
In a statement marking this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada -- who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban's birthplace in Kandahar -- said steps had been taken to provide women with a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia".
The United Nations expressed "deep concern" last week that women were being deprived of their rights under Afghanistan's Taliban government and warned of systematic gender apartheid.
Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have stopped girls and women from attending high school or university, banned them from parks, gyms and public baths, and ordered them to cover up when leaving home.
They have also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, while most female government employees have been dismissed from their jobs or are being paid to stay at home.
However, Akhundzada said "necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of the society".
"All institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights," his statement read. — AFP
UN chief Antonio Guterres will gather international envoys at a secret location in Doha on Monday in an increasingly desperate bid to find ways to influence Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. — AFP
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday calling on Taliban authorities to "swiftly reverse" all restrictive measures against women, condemning in particular its ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations.
The resolution, unanimously adopted by all 15 Council members, said the ban announced in early April "undermines human rights and humanitarian principles."
More broadly, the Council called on the Taliban government to "swiftly reverse the policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms."
It cited access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and "women's full, equal and meaningful participation in public life."
The Council also urged "all States and organizations to use their influence" to "promote an urgent reversal of these policies and practices." — AFP
G7 foreign ministers on Tuesday demanded the "immediate reversal" of a ban on women in Afghanistan working for non-governmental organisations and the United Nations.
"We call for the immediate reversal of unacceptable decisions restricting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the latest bans prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs and the UN," the top diplomats said in a statement after two days of talks in Japan.
The group also slammed the Taliban authorities' "systematic abuses of human rights of women and girls and discrimination against the members of religious and ethnic minorities".
Taliban authorities triggered international outrage this month after extending a December ban on Afghan women working for non-governmental organisations to include the UN.
They have rejected criticism over the move, saying it is an internal issue that should be "respected by all sides." — AFP
The United Nations is being forced to make an "appalling choice" over whether to continue operations in Afghanistan while the Taliban government bans women from working for the organisation, the world body says.
Under their austere interpretation of Islam, Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.
In December, they banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign non-governmental organisations, and on April 4 extended that to UN offices across the country.
In a statement Tuesday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said the ban was "unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter, and for that reason the United Nations cannot comply".
"Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold," it said. — AFP
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