DOHA -- Qatar is working with the
Taliban to reopen Kabul's airport as soon as possible, its foreign minister
said on Friday, urging the hardline Islamists to allow Afghans to leave.
اضافة اعلان
The airport, the scene of a frenzied evacuation which ended
with the US troop
withdrawal last week,
is out of operation with much of its infrastructure degraded or destroyed.
"We are working very hard (and) we remain hopeful that
we will be able to operate it as soon as possible," said Qatari Foreign
Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.
"Hopefully in the next few days we will hear some good
news," he told a news conference in Doha.
A Qatari technical team flew into Kabul on Wednesday to
discuss reopening the airport, the first plane to land there since the
evacuations.
A source with knowledge of the matter said the goal was to
resume flights both for humanitarian aid and to provide freedom of movement,
including the resumption of evacuation efforts.
More than 123,000 foreign nationals and Afghans fled the
country in the airlift operation, but many more are desperate to depart.
"It's very important... that the Taliban demonstrate
their commitment to provide safe passage and freedom of movement for the people
of Afghanistan," Sheikh Mohammed said.
Qatar is "engaging with (the Taliban) and also with
Turkey if they can provide any technical assistance", he added.
Sheikh Mohammed was addressing a joint press conference
with his British counterpart Dominic Raab, who said "we need to adjust to
the new reality" of Taliban rule.
"Our immediate priority is to secure the safe passage
of those remaining British nationals, but also the Afghans who worked for the
United Kingdom, and indeed others who may be at most risk," Raab said.
Qatar hosted negotiations between the
Taliban and the US in
recent years and was a transit point for about 43,000 evacuees from
Afghanistan.
The US invaded Afghanistan and toppled its Taliban government
in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda, which had sought sanctuary
in the country.
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