United Nations holds Afghanistan crisis talks without Taliban
The Hindu
The Taliban authorities will be absent from the U.N.-led talks on Afghanistan that open on May 1 in Qatar, as a government spokesman rejects linking international engagement with women’s rights in the crisis-stricken country.
The Taliban authorities will be absent from the U.N.-led talks on Afghanistan that open on May 1 in Qatar, as a government spokesman rejects linking international engagement with women's rights in the crisis-stricken country.
Envoys from the U.S., China and Russia — as well as major European aid donors and key neighbours such as Pakistan — are among representatives from about 25 countries and groups called for two days of talks by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, however, have not been invited to the meeting which would focus on how to deal with them and press them to ease a ban on women working and girls going to school.
The Taliban government's deputy spokesman, Bilal Karimi, said on Monday it "wants positive engagement with the world".
But "internal issues" — such as curbs on women's rights — should not factor into decisions about diplomatic engagement and formal recognition, he told AFP in Kabul.
"These should not be used as political tools," he said. "Countries should have the moral courage to independently come forward for positive engagement."
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