Some Afghan embassies break contact with Taliban govt

KABUL (Pajhwok): A former official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) says some of Afghanistan’s embassies are acting independently and the nature of their revenue remains unknown. Similarly, the ministry says one embassy is yet to deposit its money in a bank and four others have refused to answer questions about their activities.
A former MoFA official, who wished to go unnamed, told Pajhwok Afghan News 80 percent of the ministry staffers had left Afghanistan after the Taliban’s takeover. He added political departments of MoFA were responsible for maintaining relations with embassies of other countries. But currently there fewer officers in the departments.
At the moment, most of Afghanistan’s embassies have cut off contacts with the Kabul administration and the host countries, he revealed. Some embassies are still led by former minister, Hanif Atmar and then vice-president Amrullah Saleh. Some remained neutral, while others were in contact with the new administration, the source said, without providing further details.
The official said 80 percent of the embassies’ expenses were met with their own revenue collected from services like issuance of passports and other facilities. But now some of these embassies were silent on the revenue and act independently. He disclosed workers of Afghanistan’s embassies in France and Germany had sought asylum in the host countries.
“The revenue of Afghanistan embassies in Europe is transferred to Bonn and then to Kabul. A few days ago, Atmar contacted the Bunn consulate and asked it to deposit the revenue it collected in his personal bank account and he would transfer it to MoFA.” But the consulate responded it could not do so because the money belonged to Afghanistan and its Afghan people, the source said.
Pajhwok tried to contact Atmar for comment on the issue, but failed. The former MoFA official claimed the acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, had tried several times to organise an online meetings with Afghan envoys abroad. The minister reportedly planned to hold a virtual meeting with them on Wednesday, but it was cancelled because most of ambassadors were absent.
According to the source, a former officer of the ministry, in a voice message, had asked Afghanistan’s embassies to continue discharging their responsibilities. However, the source explained such orders should be issued in writing. Embassies also did not know about their fate and whether or not host countries would recognise the new government, he added.
A day earlier, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said no officer in the ministry could prevent its activities. The minister said he had ordered all embassies to represent Afghanistan in an effective manner. But three or four of them held their personal views and opposed his instructions. Muttaqi asked workers of MoFA and other government officials not to doubt the Taliban’s intentions and commitments. He has received a report from an embassy of Afghanistan. The report says the embassy spends its revenue to meet its requirements. He said the embassy should reconsider what it was doing.