A delegation of Taliban officials lands in Oslo for talks with West

Taliban government officials in Afghanistan have landed in Oslo this Sunday to talk to diplomats, journalists and Western activists about implementing some basic freedoms in Afghanistan. A former Afghan minister living in Norway today has refused to meet with the Taliban, since, according to her, negotiations only legitimise their policies more, while Afghan people are the ones suffering.

A delegation of Taliban government officials from Afghanistan has arrived this weekend in Oslo, Norway, for talks with Western political actors on implementing human rights and freedoms in Afghanistan.

Women's right to be educated, the right to protest, economic crisis and terrorism concerns are some of the points on the agenda of negotiations between the parties.

This is the first delegation of Taliban to visit Europe since taking power in Afghanistan. The delegation is headed by incumbent Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and talks will last three days.

On the first day, there will be meetings and talks with human rights activists and journalists, while diplomatic meetings will take place on Monday and Tuesday, 24 January and 25 January.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry announced that the Taliban delegation will also meet with Afghan women, journalists and activists arriving in Norway after their departure from their homeland.

Americans will be represented in these talks by Tom West, the Special Representative for Afghanistan.

Even earlier, Americans have expressed their concerns about not turning the country into a new hearth of world terrorism, while conditioning humanitarian aid to the economically overwhelmed country until the Taliban manifest political will to allow women's education and some other basic human rights.

On January 21st, Norwegian Foreign Minister stressed that the visit was not a legitimacy or recognition of the Taliban government. But according to Norwegian official, we need to talk to those who rule the country.

As for these meetings, former Afghan minister Nargis Nehan expresses doubts about their effectiveness.

The former minister now living in Norway has refused to participate because, according to her, the talks would normalise the Taliban and strengthen them, while there is no way that the Taliban can change their minds.

If we see what happens in the talks over the past three years, the Taliban continue to receive what they want from the international community, and the sufferer is the Afghan people, says former minister Nehan.