Blinken Discusses Afghanistan With Partners Amid Concern Over Provisional Taliban Government
By RFE/RL September 08, 2021
A group of more than 20 nations, including the United States, will meet to discuss the situation in Afghanistan amid disapproval abroad and protests by Afghans over the new government named by the Taliban in Kabul that is flush with veterans of their fundamentalist rule from the 1990s and two-decade war against American forces and its allies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on September 8 flew out of Qatar, the largest transit hub in a U.S.-led massive airlift from Afghanistan, to visit another processing hub for thousands of evacuees at the U.S. airbase in Ramstein, Germany.
From the base, Blinken began talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas before the two lead a virtual meeting of ministers from 20 nations on the way forward in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Pakistan hosted a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan -- China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan -- to discuss the situation there and ways to "ensure regional stability and prosperity."
The Taliban's unveiling of Afghanistan's new all-male government, led by Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who is on a UN blacklist, has raised concern in the United States and other nations. Another figure in the interim cabinet, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is wanted by the FBI.
The announcement was met with fresh protests in several areas across the country on September 8 with many wary of a repeat of the group's previous brutal rule between 1996 and 2001 that sharply curtailed freedoms and women's rights.
Hundreds of people, including many women, took to the streets of Kabul, the remote northeastern province of Badakhshan, and the the northern Parwan Province, calling for their rights be preserved and chanting anti-Pakistan slogans -- as many believe the neighboring country supports the Taliban, which Islamabad denies.
Some demonstrators complained that Taliban militants used violence to disperse the crowds, including by firing shots in the air.
The Etilaatroz newspaper reported that Taliban militants "severely beat" two of its journalists who were detained while covering a protest in Kabul's Dasht-e Barchi area.
It posted photos on social media apparently showing the backs of the two men with larges signs of whipping and bruises.
A total of five journalists of the paper were briefly detained in the capital, it said.
The hard-line Islamist group had said they wanted to form an inclusive government after its fighters took control of most of Afghanistan in a sweeping offensive more than three weeks ago following the collapse of the Western-backed government.
But several western governments appeared unhappy with the choices the Taliban made to rule the country.
"It does not look like the inclusive and representative formation in terms of the rich ethnic and religious diversity of Afghanistan we hoped to see and that the Taliban were promising over the past weeks," said Peter Stano, spokesperson for the EU's foreign policy service.
"Such inclusivity and representation is expected in the composition of a future transitional government, and as result of negotiations," he added in a statement.
Meanwhile, at a virtual meeting attended by his regional colleagues, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged Afghanistan's neighboring countries, the United Nations, and its agencies to help prevent a humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan.
Since Kabul's takeover by the Taliban, "much dreaded bloodshed has not occurred" and the prospect of a protracted conflict and civil war seems to have been averted, Qureshi said.
However, the complex situation in the country "requires discarding old lenses, developing new insights, and proceeding with a realistic and pragmatic approach," he added.
Pakistan has long been seen as supportive of the Taliban, which Islamabad denies.
The virtual meeting being co-hosted by Blinken and Maas could bring a set of conditions for engagement with Afghanistan's caretaker government. The top U.S. diplomat will likely seek to shore up international pressure on the Taliban to make good on their commitments to let Afghans leave freely if they choose.
The U.S. State Department has said it was "assessing" the new Afghan government, saying "the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban or their close associates and no women."
It also expressed concern "by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals," adding that Washington would "judge the Taliban by its actions, not words."
Afghanistan faced drought, displacement, and a humanitarian crisis even before the Taliban toppled the Western-backed government in Kabul in August as U.S.-led international forces prepared to withdraw.
Now the new rulers in Kabul are also grappling with a hollowed-out bureaucracy and worsening economic crisis. Most of Afghanistan's central bank reserves and international aid was frozen after the Taliban's takeover of the country.
Western powers say they are prepared to send humanitarian aid but the broader economic engagement that propped up the previous government depends on the actions of the Taliban.
London would have wanted to see a "diverse" leadership team in Afghanistan, and "will continue to judge the Taliban on their actions," a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has no plans to hold talks with Afghanistan's new rulers other than to "ensure the safety of our diplomats and resolve other technical issues."
Anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan asked the international community not to recognize the "illegal" interim cabinet. The National Resistance Front (NRFA) said it considered the announcement of the caretaker government "a clear sign of the group's enmity with the Afghan people."
The Taliban claims it has defeated NRFA fighters in Panjshir, a rugged mountain valley located about 100 kilometers northeast of Kabul that has a history of holding out against the militants, but the movement's leaders say the battle continues.
The Taliban named its reclusive head Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as supreme leader, putting a clerical stamp over the fledgling government. Akhund, a UN-sanctioned co-founder of the militant group who served in key positions during the Taliban's previous rule, was named acting prime minister.
All members appointed are from within the Taliban ranks and have a religious background. Of 33 cabinet positions, nearly all were filled by ethnic Pashtuns who make up an estimated 40 percent of the population.
The Taliban also announced the reinstatement of a Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which under the group's previous rule was responsible for arresting and punishing people for failing to implement the movement's restrictive interpretation of Islamic law.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, the BBC, and TASS
Source: https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/us-taliban- government-afghanistan-/31449142.html
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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