{"id":72575,"date":"2021-10-12T15:15:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T15:15:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=72575"},"modified":"2021-10-12T15:15:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T15:15:37","slug":"under-pressure-taliban-to-meet-eu-us-in-diplomatic-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=72575","title":{"rendered":"Under-pressure Taliban to meet EU, US in diplomatic push"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"News Desk:<\/strong> The Taliban held their first face-to-face\u00a0 talks with a joint EU-US delegation Tuesday in Qatar as the hardline\u00a0 Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for international support.<\/p>\n

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Afghanistan's new rulers are seeking recognition, as well as assistance to\u00a0 avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in August\u00a0 following the withdrawal of US troops after 20 years of war.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

UN chief Antonio Guterres urged the world to donate to Afghanistan to head\u00a0 off its economic collapse, but also slammed the Taliban's “broken” promises\u00a0 to Afghan women and girls.<\/p>\n

The direct talks in Doha were facilitated by Qatar which has long hosted a\u00a0 Taliban political office.<\/p>\n

EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said the meeting would “allow the US and\u00a0 European side to address issues” including free passage for people wanting to\u00a0 leave, access for humanitarian aid, respect for the rights of women and\u00a0 preventing Afghanistan becoming a haven for “terrorist” groups.<\/p>\n

“This is an informal exchange at technical level. It does not constitute\u00a0 recognition of the ‘interim government',” she said.<\/p>\n

The Taliban badly need assistance as Afghanistan's economy is in a parlous\u00a0 state with international aid cut off, food prices rising and unemployment\u00a0 spiking.<\/p>\n

The regime, still yet to be recognised as a legitimate government by any\u00a0 other country, is also facing a security threat from the Islamic State-
\nKhorasan (IS-K) group, who have launched a series of deadly attacks.<\/p>\n

“We want positive relationships with the whole world,” the Taliban's\u00a0 acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at an earlier event in Qatar.\u00a0“We believe in balanced international relations. We believe such a balanced\u00a0 relationship can save Afghanistan from instability,” said Muttaqi, who led\u00a0 the Taliban delegation Saturday for the first in-person talks with US\u00a0 officials since the American pullout.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0– Staving off ‘collapse' –<\/p>\n

Ahead of Tuesday's talks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the\u00a0 bloc was looking to bolster its direct aid to the Afghan people in an effort\u00a0 to stave off “collapse”. “We cannot ‘wait and see'. We need to act, and act\u00a0 quickly,” Borrell said after discussions with EU development ministers.<\/p>\n

The international community is facing a tough balancing act trying to get\u00a0 urgently needed aid to Afghans without endorsing Taliban rule.<\/p>\n

G20 leaders were to hold a virtual summit on Tuesday to discuss the\u00a0 humanitarian and security situation following the Taliban takeover.<\/p>\n

It was not clear if all the leaders of the G20 economic powers, which\u00a0 include the United States, EU, China, Turkey, Russia and Saudi Arabia among\u00a0 others, would join the meeting organised by Italy.<\/p>\n

But an Italian government official said it would be “mostly heads of state\u00a0 and government”.<\/p>\n

Guterres underscored discontent with the Taliban over its treatment of\u00a0 women despite vows it would not repeat its earlier hardline rule.<\/p>\n

“I am particularly alarmed to see promises made to Afghan women and girls\u00a0 by the Taliban being broken,” he told reporters Monday.<\/p>\n

Afghanistan's boys were allowed to return to secondary schools three weeks\u00a0 ago, but girls have been told to stay at home along with women teachers in\u00a0 much of the country, though they can attend primary school.<\/p>\n

Asked about the exclusion of girls, Muttaqi said schools had been closed\u00a0 because of Covid-19 — a threat he said had lessened.<\/p>\n

“Covid… has been controlled and incidences are very few, and with the\u00a0 reduction of that risk, opening of schools has already started and every day\u00a0 it is increasing,” he said.<\/p>\n

Muttaqi also insisted there was no discrimination against the Shiite\u00a0 community and claimed that IS-K was being tamed.<\/p>\n

“Whatever preparations they had made have been neutralised 98 percent,” he\u00a0 said.<\/p>\n

IS-K claimed a bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed more than 60 people\u00a0 on Friday, the deadliest attack since the US pullout.<\/p>\n

Underlining the shaky security situation, the US and Britain warned their\u00a0 citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Spain was to organise a second evacuation flight for Afghans Tuesday after\u00a0 flying 84 from Pakistan to a base near Madrid on Monday.<\/p>\n

Madrid evacuated more than 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had\u00a0 worked for Spain and their families, during the Western withdrawal from Kabul\u00a0 in August but the flights had to stop once the last American troops left.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

News Desk: The Taliban held their first face-to-face\u00a0 talks with a joint EU-US delegation Tuesday in Qatar as the hardline\u00a0 Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for international support. Afghanistan’s new rulers are seeking recognition, as well as assistance to\u00a0 avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in August\u00a0 following the withdrawal of US […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n