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10 October, 2021 I 3 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1443 I Rs 15.00 Vol XII No 106 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition
Taliban, US diScUSS ‘opening a new page’ in firST TalkS Since pUlloUT
CAIRO The AssociATed Press
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aliban representatives asked the United States to lift a ban on afghan central bank reserves at a meeting with US counterparts in Doha, afghanistan’s acting foreign minister said on Saturday in remarks reported by Qatar-based al-Jazeera television. The minister, amir Khan Muttaqi, also said Washington would offer afghans coronavirus vaccines, al-Jazeera reported, after the first senior face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the hardline group took over the country in august following a US troop pullout. The minister added that the afghan delegation and US counterparts discussed “opening a new page” between the
two countries, adversaries during the United States’ two-decade long occupation of afghanistan. Washington and other Western countries are grappling with difficult choices as a severe humanitarian crisis looms large over afghanistan. They are trying to formulate how to engage with the Taliban without granting it the legitimacy it seeks while ensuring humanitarian aid flows into the country. The departure of US-led forces and many international donors robbed the country of grants that financed 75% of public spending, according to the World bank. Speaking to Reuters earlier in Washington, a US official said that while there was an improvement for humanitarian actors to get access to some areas that they haven’t been to in a decade, problems still persisted,
adding that the US delegation at the Doha talks would press the Taliban to improve. Mutaki also said that the afghan delegation focus at the meeting was humanitarian aid and implementing Doha agreement. He said the discussions would continue on Saturday and would resume on Sunday. Mutaki added the afghan delegation will meet European Union representatives to discuss latest developments, but he didn’t mention when the meeting will be held. ‘Talks to revisit the peace accord of 2020’: Earlier in the day, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, who is based in Doha, told The associated Press on Saturday that the talks will also revisit the peace agreement the Taliban signed with Washington in 2020. The agreement had paved the way for the final US withdrawal. “Yes there is a meeting… about bilateral relations and implementation of the Doha agreement,” said Shaheen. “it covers various topics.” “Terrorism will also feature in the talks,” said a second official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Since the Taliban took power, the militant group islamic State have ramped up attacks on the group, as well as ethnic and religious minorities. On Friday, an iS suicide bomber killed at least 55 worshippers at a Shia mosque and wounded dozens in the deadliest attack since the US departure.
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