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6 minutes agoU.S.A.: Obligation with Taliban depends on many factors
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)White House officials said Thursday that the United States' commitment to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan had entered a new uncertain phase, while American officials continue working to evacuate about 100 Americans still in the country. Meanwhile, Taliban officials signaled that their government [...]
Meanwhile, Taliban officials signalled that their new government was strengthening ties with China and other countries.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US no longer controls airspace over Afghanistan. So far, she said, 31,107 people have been brought to the US, down from the total of more than 120,000 evacuees to what administration officials have described as the largest air evacuation in history.
But on Thursday, a Taliban spokesman announced with a tweet that a senior Taliban official had talked to a senior Chinese official.
The Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister said Beijing would keep its embassy in Kabul, adding that our relations would be strengthened in comparison to the past,” wrote Suhail Saheen, a spokesman for the Taliban commenting on English.
No confirmation has yet been made from Beijing, the Agence France-Press news agency reported.
Other Taliban officials said in comments on Twitter that they were conducting diplomatic discussions with Britain and Germany. Qatar and Turkey are also helping the new Afghan government to normalise operations at the main airport in Kabul.
spokeswoman Psaki said the US is currently following developments and expects to identify forms of engagement with Afghanistan's newly-elected government. She stressed that the US has forms of non-military pressure on the new government, such as access to global markets and financial aid.
No one in the U.S. government, no president, no defence secretary or intelligence agencies have said Taliban are good actors,” she said. “We're not saying that. So we speak so clearly when we discuss the reasons that we are being discreet and are not rushing to recognize the Taliban as the governing authority, because we want to see what is happening”.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the diplomatic body would also be cautious in delivering aid to the new government.
Our assistance to the Afghan government is being analysed. A new government has not been formed in Afghanistan yet. So first, we'll have to see how the government is forming. This is just a technical element. ... What matters most to the topics you mentioned (Mr. Price was answering journalists' questions), will be the actions of the new Afghan government”.
In particular, he said, the US will give priority to the safe <x0pass, respect for the rights of people in Afghanistan, including women and girls and minorities, a comprehensive government, a government that meets its commitments against terrorism, a government that respects universal international norms”.
In the creation of a new government, Taliban also face challenges within the country's borders, especially the National Resistance Front, the revived rebel movement, led by the son of the famous military commander Ahmed Shah Massoud.
His British-educated son has returned to Afghanistan and, in an opinion article in the Washington Post, vowed to fight for <x0, an open society, a society where girls can become doctors, our press can report freely, our young people can dance and listen to music or participate in football matches at the stadiums that once and perhaps again were used by the Taliban for public execution”.
Military officials said the US could still fight terrorism in the region, though the US military “mission in Afghanistan has ended”, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“We will continue to have the capacity to carry out attacks from outside Afghanistan to hit terrorists depending on security needs,” he said. “This is different from the presence of an ongoing military mission in Afghanistan”.
