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The Taliban’s “Islamic emirate” is “ready to be inclusive rather than selective,” senior leaders of the organization told Al Jazeera in response to Western pressure for an inclusive Afghan government.
The Taliban stated that minority members have been represented in the cabinet announced last month and that female members will be added later.
Sources told Al Jazeera that the Taliban were indifferent to the US proposal to include “old guards” in an “inclusive” government.
“The international community must respect the wishes of the Afghan people,” Sohail Shaheen, the ambassador-designate to the United Nations, said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera.
The Afghan organization that seized power on August 15 sought international recognition of its “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” (IEA), but the West stated that this recognition would be related to the treatment of women and ethnic minorities.
The continued closure of girls’ high schools and the killing of Hazaras have aroused criticism from human rights organizations and aroused concern in Western countries.
Taliban talks with the U.S.
When Shaheen made the above remarks, a Taliban delegation led by Amir Khan Muthaki, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, arrived in Doha to hold talks with Qatari officials and representatives of some other countries, including the United States.
Since the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan on August 30, U.S. officials, including intelligence agencies and the State Department, will hold face-to-face talks with Taliban officials for the first time.
Security agencies from regional and international powers are also expected to hold talks with Taliban delegations, including spy leader Abdul Haq Vasik, Minister of Information and Culture Mullah Kailua Kerhwa and Xie He Shahabdin Drava.
Maulvi Dilawar is one of the founding members of the Taliban negotiating team based in Doha. He was sent by Mullah Mohammed Omar, the founding leader of the organization, to establish a political office in Doha.
The two-day meeting will begin on Saturday.
Senior Taliban leader Shaheen met in Doha on Thursday with ambassadors and representatives from various countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Taliban insisted that the United States should fulfill its 2020 agreement signed in Doha, lift sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars worth of assets of the central bank of Afghanistan. Many Taliban leaders, including current ministers, are still blacklisted by the United Nations and the United States.
The Afghan Central Bank’s assets worth more than 9 billion U.S. dollars have been frozen by the United States, and international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have suspended Afghanistan’s use of its funds, triggering a liquidity crunch.
Concessions to women’s rights
According to sources, the United States hopes that the leaders of the previous government will become part of an “inclusive” government, make concessions on women’s rights, and allow access to targeted armed groups such as Islamic State affiliated organizations, Islamic State of Khorasan Province, ISKP ( ISIS-K) Al Jazeera.
On Friday, the ISKP group claimed to have attacked the Shiite Hazara Mosque, killing dozens of people-the worst attack since the Taliban came to power in August. The organization has become the Taliban’s greatest security threat.
Earlier, Qatar’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Mutrak Qatani, called on the international community to “engage with the Taliban”.
“You can disagree with them, but isolationist policies cannot bring solutions,” he told Al Jazeera late last month.
“The international community must not repeat the same mistakes. Untouchable countries tend to move towards extremism and violence,” he said, referring to the danger of Afghanistan becoming a untouchable country.
“By actively participating in improving the lives of millions of Afghan people, the international community can prevent Afghanistan from becoming one.”
At the same time, Afghanistan is facing a humanitarian disaster, and only one-third of the funds sought by the United Nations for the country have been paid.
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