OSLO — The first
Taliban delegation to visit
Europe since the hardline Islamists returned to power in Afghanistan began
talks focused on human rights with Afghan civil society members in Oslo on
Sunday, ahead of highly anticipated meetings with Western officials.
اضافة اعلان
Headed by Foreign Minister
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the delegation dedicated the first day of their three-day visit to
talks with women activists and journalists, among others.
The discussions, which are being facilitated
by Norway and are to focus on human rights and the humanitarian crisis in
Afghanistan, are taking place behind closed doors at the Soria Moria Hotel, on
a snowy hilltop outside Oslo.
Afghanistan's humanitarian situation has
deteriorated drastically since last August when the Taliban stormed back to
power 20 years after being toppled.
International aid came to a sudden halt
after their takeover, worsening the plight of millions of people who were
already suffering from hunger after several severe droughts.
The hardline Islamists were ousted by a US-led
coalition in 2001 but took over again following a hasty withdrawal by
international forces.
No country has yet recognized the Taliban
government, and Norwegian Foreign Minister
Anniken Huitfeldt stressed that the
talks would "not represent a legitimization or recognition of the
Taliban".
"But we must talk to the de facto
authorities in the country. We cannot allow the political situation to lead to
an even worse humanitarian disaster," Huitfeldt said Friday.
Several dozen demonstrators protested
outside Norway's foreign ministry on Sunday, shouting "No to
Taliban", "Taliban terrorists" and "Afghan lives
matter", an AFP journalist at the scene reported.
On Monday, the Taliban will meet with
representatives of the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, and the EU, while
Tuesday will be dedicated to bilateral talks with Norwegian officials.
In an interview with AFP on Saturday,
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the hardline Islamists hoped the
talks would help "transform the atmosphere of war ... into a peaceful
situation".
Joining the delegation from Kabul is Anas
Haqqani, a leader of the most feared and violent faction of the Taliban
movement — the Haqqani network, responsible for some of the most devastating
attacks in Afghanistan.
A senior official with no formal government
title, he was jailed for several years at the US’ Bagram detention center
outside of the capital Kabul before being released in a prisoner swap in 2019.
'Collective punishment'
International aid financed around 80 percent
of the
Afghan budget until it was halted in August, and the US has frozen $9.5
billion in assets in the Afghan central bank.
Unemployment has skyrocketed and civil
servants' salaries have gone unpaid for months.
Hunger now threatens 23 million Afghans, or
55 percent of the population, according to the
UN, which says it needs $4.4
billion from donor countries this year to address the humanitarian crisis.
"It would be a mistake to submit the
people of Afghanistan to a collective punishment just because the de facto
authorities are not behaving properly," UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres said Friday.
The international community is waiting to
see how the Taliban intend to govern after being accused of trampling human
rights during their first stint in power between 1996 and 2001.
While the Islamists claim to have
modernized, women are still largely excluded from public-sector employment and
most secondary schools for girls remain closed.
'Gender apartheid'
A former Afghan minister for mines and
petrol who now lives in Norway,
Nargis Nehan, said she had declined an
invitation to take part.
She told AFP she feared the talks would
"normalize the Taliban and ... strengthen them, while there is no way that
they'll change."
"What guarantee is there this time that
they will keep their promises?" she asked.
Two women activists disappeared this week
after being seized from their homes in Kabul after taking part in a
demonstration.
Davood Moradian, the head of the Afghan
Institute for Strategic Studies now based outside Afghanistan, criticized
Norway's "celebrity-style" peace initiative.
Hosting the Taliban's foreign minister
"casts doubt on Norway's global image as a country that cares for women's
rights, when the Taliban has effectively instituted gender apartheid," he
said.
Norway has played a mediating role in many
conflicts, including in the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Colombia.
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