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11-10-2021
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
DOHA/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: Senior Taliban representatives have said they had “positive” discussions with a delegation from the United States in the Qatari capital Doha, and have begun a meeting with the European Union representatives.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15 after the West-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani collapsed as the US forces started to withdraw from the country. The US forces pulled out of Afghanistan on August 30, ending its 20-year military occupation.
Journalists from Doha, said the Americans “aren’t offering any details as the talks conclude”, but the Afghan delegation has said the two-day talks were “positive”.
“They hope it paves the way for recognition of the Afghan government not only by the United States, but the international community,” Ghoneim said.
According to her, the Afghan delegation, led by the Afghan acting foreign minister, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, also came to Doha seeking financial assistance that comes with any sort of international recognition.
“What concessions were made to get financial assistance, what deals might be made … we don’t know as of now,” Ghoneim said.
She added that the Afghan delegation was asking the US to end economic sanctions and to “unfreeze” some $10bn worth of assets. The Taliban announced its all-male Cabinet last month, but it has struggled to govern amid a liquidity crisis after it was cut off from the international financial institutions, such as IMF and World Bank.
The group has said it needs to pay government employees and provide services to Afghans amid a looming economic and humanitarian crisis.
The US has yet to comment on the meetings but a spokesperson of the Department of State said on Friday evening that the talks were not about recognizing or legitimizing the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leaders but are a continuation of pragmatic talks on issues of national interest for the US.
He said the priority was the continued safe departure of Afghans, US citizens and other foreign nationals from Afghanistan, adding that another goal was to urge the Taliban to respect the 
rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and form an inclusive government with broad support.
While the Taliban has signaled flexibility on evacuations, it has said there would be no cooperation with the US on containing armed groups in Afghanistan, an issue of interest for Washington.
The US-Taliban agreement of 2020, which was negotiated by the administration of former President Donald Trump, had demanded that the Taliban break ties with “terrorist” groups and guarantee Afghanistan would not again harbor “terrorists” who could attack Washington and its allies.
The Afghan group has demanded that its senior leaders be taken off the “terror list”, accusing the US of violating the Doha agreement, which paved the way for the US withdrawal.
Since the Taliban took power, the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, ISKP (ISIS-K), an ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, has ramped up attacks in the country, particularly targeting the Shia Hazara community.
ISKP has claimed a suicide attack on a Shia mosque during Friday prayers in which dozens of people were killed.
The Taliban, which has cracked down on ISKP, ruled out cooperation with the US on tackling its threat. The group has also warned Washington against any so-called “over-the-horizon” attacks on Afghan territory from outside the country’s borders.
For now, the Taliban have cautioned the United States (US) against “destabilizing” the regime during their first face-to-face talks since the US withdrawal.
As mourners in northern Afghanistan buried their dead from an attack on a mosque that killed 62, a Taliban delegation told US officials in Doha that any weakening of their government could cause “problems for the people”.
Scores more worshippers were wounded in Friday’s blast in Kunduz, which was claimed by the Daesh who appear to be attempting to further shake Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover.
“We clearly told them that trying to destabilize the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,” the Taliban’s foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar after the talks in the Qatari capital.
“Good relations with Afghanistan are good for everyone. Nothing should be done to weaken the existing government in Afghanistan which can lead to problems for the people,” he said, in a recorded statement translated by AFP.
The Taliban are seeking international recognition, as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster and ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis.
A State Department official said the US delegation would press the Taliban to ensure terrorists do not create a base for attacks in the country.
It would also pressure the Afghanistan’s new rulers to form an inclusive government and to respect the rights of women and girls, the official said, stressing the meeting did not indicate Washington recognized Taliban rule.
“We remain clear that any legitimacy must be earned through the Taliban’s own actions,” the official said.
‘Terrifying’
The Taliban’s efforts to consolidate power have been undermined by a series of deadly Daesh attacks.
The Taliban security chief in Kunduz accused the mosque attackers of trying to foment trouble between the sects.
“We assure our Shia brothers that in the future, we will provide security for them and that such problems will not happen to them,” Mulawi Dost Muhammad said.
The attack was met with broad international condemnation, with UN chief Antonio Guterres calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
Guterres “condemns in the strongest terms today’s horrific attack”, his spokesman said.
Earlier, dozens of Afghan girls with promising football careers, which fled the Taliban, have been told they can come to the UK to be resettled, along with their families.
The 35-member squad aged 13-19 fled Kabul last month and has been staying for the past few weeks in a hotel in Pakistan, where their temporary visas were due to expire on Monday.
“We are working to finalise visas to the Afghan Women’s Development Team and look forward to welcoming them to the UK shortly,” a UK government spokesman said.
The girls faced having to return to Afghanistan if another country had not accepted them.
“This is fantastic news, and we are most grateful to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel for this life-saving decision,” said Siu-Anne Marie Gill, CEO of the ROKiT Foundation, which supported their escape from Afghanistan.
“Like football, it has been a team effort where every player has had a vital role,” she said. “These young sportswomen and their families are so thrilled to have been given a second chance in life, here in the home of football. The next step is to settle them into their new home. We will do all we can to support them in this process, and the communities that welcome them.”
Leeds United and Chelsea are among a number of British football clubs who have promised to support them in the UK.
Ms Gill told the BBC the girls had become extremely nervous about what would happen to them, but are now hugely relieved. She said they would come to the UK in two to three weeks.
The young squad members have all been through an extraordinary ordeal.
Most of them are from Herat in western Afghanistan and had made their way to Kabul when the Western airlift started, staying in safe houses.
“Seventy percent of them had received death threats,” said Ms Gill. “They were terrified.”
Afghanistan’s former women’s team was airlifted to Australia and the girls’ team were later given asylum in Portugal but the fate of the development squad was uncertain – until now.
The girls, along with their coaches and family members, had been due to be evacuated to Qatar at the end of August. They were almost within sight of the airport when they were pulled off 
their buses because of security warnings. Two hours later, the airport was attacked by a suicide bomber.
After 10 days in hiding, they were eventually driven to the Afghan border, and crossed into Pakistan after being given personal permission to enter by Prime Minister Imran Khan but with their Pakistani visas about to run out, Ms Gill said, the “platform was burning” because it would have been far too dangerous for them to return to Afghanistan.
Women have not been able to take part in any sports since the Taliban takeover. The former women’s football team captain, Khalida Popal, had warned players to burn their kits and delete social media images of them playing for fear of retribution from the Taliban.
