‘International community must engage with Taliban’

KABUL (Khaama Press): Taliban’s Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mawlavi Mohammed Abdul Kabir met with the United Nations’ special representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbaeva, and said the international community should engage with the group.
Abdul Kabir, the Political Deputy Prime Minister and Khairullah Khaikhwa, the Minister of Information and Culture of Taliban on Monday met with Roza Otunbaeva at Sapedar Palace and discussed Afghanistan issues.
During the visit, the senior Taliban officials asked UNs’ special representative Roza Otunbaeva to invite Afghanistan’s caretaker authorities to international meetings in the future.
Referring to the Doha conference held in Qatar’s capital and hosted by the UN on May 1 and 2, in which representatives from at least 25 countries and international organizations participated, however, Taliban officials were not invited.
Following the summit, the Taliban had described the meeting as “one-sided and ineffective” to which the group was not invited.
The UN representative in Afghanistan highlighted about the Doha conference during the meeting according to Taliban officials.
Taliban officials on Twitter said that Minister Khairkhwa appreciated the result of the Doha conference about the emphasis on the continued delivery of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan during these difficult times.
“Taliban representatives should be invited to international conferences held on Afghanistan issues in the future so that pathways for meaningful interaction and engagement are sought,” Minister Khairkhwa said.
Toward the end of the Doha conference, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced that another summit will be held in Afghanistan in the near future.