Taliban hold first talks in Europe since Afghan takeover

byJohn Smith •
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Particular Consultant for Afghanistan Nigel Casey, proper, shakes fingers with Taliban consultant Amir Khan Muttaqi, centre, forward of a gathering, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are assembly with Afghan girls’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo forward of the primary official talks with the Taliban in Europe for the reason that Taliban took over in August. The closed-door assembly was an opportunity to listen to from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their calls for and evaluation of the present state of affairs on the bottom. The assembly was happening at a resort within the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the US, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • Special Representative for Afghanistan Nigel Casey, right, shakes hands with Taliban representative Amir Khan Muttaqi, centre, ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • International special representatives and representatives from the Taliban are seated, ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • Delegate from the Afghan civil society Heda Khamoush holds up photos of two women who have vanished, ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • Taliban representative Anas Haqqani sits ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • US Special Envoy to Afghanistan Thomas West, centre, looks on ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.
  • Afghanistan women's rights activist Mahbooba Siraj speaks to the press ahead of a meeting, in Oslo, Norway, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Western diplomats are meeting with Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders in Oslo ahead of the first official talks with the Taliban in Europe since the Taliban took over in August. The closed-door meeting was a chance to hear from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora their demands and assessment of the current situation on the ground. The meeting was taking place at a hotel in the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital and was attended by representatives of the EU, the US, the United States, France, Italy and hosts Norway.

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Taliban and western diplomats have started their first official talks in Europe since they took over management of Afghanistan in August.

The closed-door conferences have been happening at a resort within the snow-capped mountains above the Norwegian capital. Taliban representatives might be sure to press their demand that just about $10 billion frozen by the US and different Western international locations be launched as Afghanistan faces a precarious humanitarian state of affairs.

“We're requesting them to unfreeze Afghan property and never punish extraordinary Afghans due to the political discourse,” stated Taliban delegate Shafiullah Azam on Sunday evening. “Due to the hunger, due to the lethal winter, I feel it’s time for the worldwide neighborhood to help Afghans, not punish them due to their political disputes.”

Forward of the talks, western diplomats met with Afghan girls’s rights activists and human rights defenders to listen to from civil society in Afghanistan and the Afghan diaspora about their calls for and evaluation of the present state of affairs on the bottom. The assembly was attended by representatives of the EU, the U.S., Britain, France, Italy and hosts Norway.

Standing silent as attendees gathered, girls’s rights activist Heda Khamoush, who lives in Kabul, held up the images of Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhel, two girls arrested by the Taliban final week following an anti-Taliban protest in opposition to the obligatory Islamic scarf, or hijab, for girls. They haven’t been seen since.

Rejecting the accusation the Taliban had kidnapped them, Azam stated he was “not conscious of that” and instructed activists could also be utilizing this occasion to hunt asylum.

Talking after the assembly, girls’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj angrily rejected this and warned that “in the event that they proceed this fashion —to inform us one thing and do one thing else — that’s when the belief goes to interrupt, fully.“

The three-day talks opened on Sunday with direct conferences between the Taliban and civil society representatives.

A joint assertion tweeted in a single day by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan deputy tradition and knowledge minister, stated “members of the assembly acknowledged that understanding and joint cooperation are the one options to all the issues of Afghanistan,” and emphasised that “all Afghans have to work collectively for higher political, financial and safety outcomes within the nation.”

Seraj acknowledged the progress made. “Sure, they have been listening. I ought to say that,“ she stated Monday morning. ”We gave them a paper. We requested them what we wished. They took it. They have been very, very cordial about it.”

The talks come at a essential time for Afghanistan as freezing temperatures are compounding distress from the downward spiral that has include the autumn of the U.S.-backed authorities and the Taliban takeover.

Assist teams and worldwide businesses estimate about 23 million folks, greater than half the nation, face extreme starvation and almost 9 million are getting ready to hunger. Folks have resorted to promoting possessions to purchase meals, burning furnishings for heat and even promoting their youngsters. The United Nations has managed to offer some liquidity and allowed the Taliban administration to pay for imports, together with electrical energy.

Confronted with the Taliban’s request for funds, Western powers are more likely to put the rights of girls and women in Afghanistan excessive on their agenda, together with the West’s recurring demand for the Taliban administration to share energy with Afghanistan’s minority ethnic and non secular teams.

Since sweeping to energy in mid-August, the Taliban have imposed widespread restrictions, lots of them directed at girls. Girls have been banned from many roles outdoors the well being and training fields, their entry to training has been restricted past sixth grade and so they have been ordered to put on the hijab. The Taliban have, nonetheless, stopped in need of imposing the burqa, which was obligatory after they beforehand dominated Afghanistan within the Nineties.

The Taliban have more and more focused Afghanistan’s beleaguered rights teams, in addition to journalists, detaining and typically beating tv crews protecting demonstrations.

A U.S. delegation, led by Particular Consultant for Afghanistan Tom West, plans to debate “the formation of a consultant political system; responses to the pressing humanitarian and financial crises; safety and counterterrorism considerations; and human rights, particularly training for women and girls,” in keeping with a press release launched by the U.S. State Division.

The Scandinavian nation, residence to the Nobel Peace Prize, is not any stranger to diplomacy. It has been concerned in peace efforts in numerous international locations, together with Mozambique, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Colombia, the Philippines, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Syria, Myanmar, Somalia, Sri Lanka and South Sudan.

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