Talks in Qatar between the Taliban and the US have been “friendly and professional” according to the Americans. The Taliban say the Americans have pledged humanitarian aid. Whether that is correct is unknown. A spokesman for the US State Department said only that “robust” humanitarian aid had been discussed, with no indication of whether any commitments had been made.
These were the first direct talks between the Taliban and the US since the Americans left Afghanistan in August. According to the spokesman, the negotiators discussed the safe departure of American citizens still in Afghanistan, other foreigners and thousands of Afghans who have cooperated with the US.
Terrorism and Human Rights
Another topic was terrorism. The Americans want to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a hiding place for terrorists again, as the country was at the turn of the century for Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida. The Americans are also said to have pushed for the release of American engineer Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2020. This was presumably through the Haqqani Network, a terrorist group that works with the Taliban.
According to the Foreign Affairs spokesman, the negotiators also discussed human rights and “meaningful” participation of women and girls in society.
bank balances
The Afghan foreign minister said yesterday that the Taliban have asked the US to almost 8 billion euros that the Afghan central bank has in accounts in the US. He also said that the US wants to offer his country corona vaccines.
The Americans stressed that they will judge the Taliban by their actions.
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