(Washington) The United States will resume its discussions with the Taliban next week in Qatar, in particular on the fight against terrorism and on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
“I can confirm that next week, Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West will return to Doha for two weeks of meetings with the Taliban,” US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday.
They will talk about “our vital national interests about Afghanistan”, he added, listing “counterterrorism”, “humanitarian aid and the economic situation of the country”, as well as the possibility for them. Americans and Afghans who have worked for them over the past twenty years leave Afghanistan “safely.”
Thomas West met nearly two weeks ago in Pakistan with representatives of the Islamist movement which seized power in Kabul in mid-August following the withdrawal of all American forces. A first session of negotiations between Washington and the Taliban took place on October 9 and 10, already in Doha where the American diplomatic team in charge of Afghanistan relocated after this withdrawal.
The American envoy reiterated last Friday on Twitter the conditions of the United States so that the Taliban “deserve” American financial and diplomatic support: fight against terrorism, establishment of an “inclusive” government, “respect for rights minorities, women and girls ”, and“ equal access to education and employment ”.
He assured that the Americans would continue to maintain a “lucid and frank dialogue with the Taliban” and to provide the Afghans, in the meantime, with strictly humanitarian aid.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the government established by the Taliban but not recognized by the international community, Amir Khan Muttaqi, asked him last week in an open letter to the American Congress the lifting of the freeze on Afghan assets decided by Washington.