Qatari official says recognising Taliban government not a priority By Reuters

By Andrew Mills

DOHA (Reuters) -Qatar believes that recognising the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan is just not a precedence now, and that the main focus needs to be on participating with the brand new administration and addressing humanitarian points, a senior Qatari official mentioned on Tuesday.

Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, particular envoy of the Qatari international minister, urged different nations to interact extra deeply with the Taliban as Afghanistan’s de facto authority, whereas urging the Islamist motion to behave as a “accountable” administration and respect the proper of girls to work and ladies to attend college.

“We predict this (recognition) is just not a precedence. What’s extra a precedence as we converse now could be the humanitarian, is the schooling, is free passage of passengers,” Qahtani mentioned at a world safety discussion board in Doha.

Qatar, which is internet hosting talks between Taliban and Western officers during which Mutlaq mentioned he was taking part, is seen as one of many nations with affect over the motion.

Mutlaq mentioned the one approach ahead was to supply the caretaker administration “extra collaboration, cooperation and help” however that Afghanistan ought to transfer in direction of an inclusive authorities in an inside course of whereby Afghans “resolve their future”.

Virtually two months after the previous Western-backed authorities collapsed and rebel forces swept into Kabul, the Taliban administration has pushed to construct relations with different nations to assist stave off a catastrophic financial disaster.

However the Taliban have to date refused to provide floor on permitting ladies to return to highschool, one of many key calls for of the worldwide group after a choice final month that colleges above the sixth grade would solely reopen for boys.

Qahtani mentioned barring ladies from research was “not acceptable from a (Islamic) non secular perspective”.

Women’ schooling was one of many restricted variety of unambiguously optimistic good points from the West’s twenty years of involvement in Afghanistan.

Doha hosted the Taliban’s political workplace which oversaw the negotiations with america that ultimately led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in August. It has performed a pivotal function in evacuation efforts.