Qatar: Taliban leaders have held a meeting with United States officials in Qatar for the first time since the group regained control of Afghanistan two years ago.
A spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the two sides discussed confidence-building measures during the talks, including the lifting of sanctions and travel bans as well as the return of Afghan central bank assets held abroad.
“The delegations also discussed combating narcotics and human rights issues,” Mr. Abdul Qahar Balkhi stated.
According to a statement from the US State Department, its officials informed the Taliban that Washington was open to technical talks on economic stability and repeated concerns about “deteriorating” human rights in the country. Attendees, including US Special Representative Mr. Thomas West and Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Md. Rina Amiri, raised “grave concern regarding detentions, media crackdowns, and limits on religious practise.”
The officials further urged the Taliban to reverse bans on girls’ secondary education and women’s employment, as well as for the release of detained Americans. According to reports, they also “voiced openness to continue dialogue on counternarcotics”, recognising a “significant decrease in cultivation of poppies this growing season.”
In addition, the US delegation met representatives of the Afghan central bank and the Ministry of Finance, with the State Department saying it “took note” of falling inflation as well as rising exports and imports in 2023.It said it would be open to “a technical dialogue regarding economic stabilisation issues soon.”
The US froze about $7 billion in Afghan central bank funds held in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after the Taliban took power. Half of the funds are now in a Swiss-based Afghan Fund.
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