ISLAMABAD – Taliban delegates, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and representatives of Afghan civil society, held day-long discussions, focusing on the deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, on Sunday in Oslo.
The participants “listened patiently to each other’s opinions” and exchanged views on the current situation in the country, said a brief Taliban statement after the meeting in the Norwegian capital. It was said that “a number of Afghan personalities” attended the meeting with Muttaqi’s delegation but did not develop it.
“They reaffirmed that Afghanistan is the common home of all Afghans and stressed that all Afghans must work together for the country’s political, economic and security prosperity,” the Taliban said in a statement.
The talks marked the beginning of three days of closed meetings that the Scandinavian country has arranged between the ruling Islamist group, Western government officials and Afghans from a number of different areas of civil society.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August last year and have since sent their delegates to China, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia and Turkmenistan for bilateral and multinational meetings.
Sunday was the first time a Taliban delegation was in Europe.
On Friday, Norway’s Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt emphasized that the visit “was not an identification or recognition of the Taliban. But we must talk to those who in practice govern the country today.”
The United States and other Western countries have collectively frozen about $ 10 billion in Afghan central bank assets, mostly held by the US Federal Reserve, following the Taliban’s takeover.
During its meetings with US and European envoys in Oslo, Muttaqi was expected to renew his government’s demand for the release of assets as Afghanistan faces an economic collapse and an unprecedented increase in humanitarian needs.
Taliban talks in Norway raise new debate on recognition
Thomas West, the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, was in the Norwegian capital for talks with the Taliban delegation. He was accompanied by Rina Amiri, special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights, and officials from the US Treasury Department, as well as the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
On Sunday, in a series of tweets, West Norway welcomed the initiative to bring Afghan civil society and the Taliban together for dialogue, saying that the leaders of civil society are the backbone of healthy and prosperous economies and societies.
“As we seek to address the humanitarian crisis with allies, partners and aid organizations, we will continue clear-sighted diplomacy with the Taliban regarding our concerns and our continued interest in a stable, rights-respecting and inclusive Afghanistan,” said the US envoy. twittrade.
The US State Department said the West delegation would discuss “the establishment of a representative political system, responses to the acute humanitarian and economic crises, security and the fight against terrorism, and human rights, in particular education for girls and women.”
The freezing of assets and financial sanctions against the new Taliban rulers have plunged the fragile Afghan economy into an unprecedented crisis, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis. On Monday, the Taliban will begin talks with Western national delegates, where the discussion on frozen assets is likely.
The United Nations says it needs $ 5 billion this year to provide emergency assistance to an estimated 24 million people experiencing acute food shortages, with 9 million of them threatened with starvation and as many as 1 million children suffering from “acute severe malnutrition.”
The UN has managed to provide some liquidity and let the new Taliban administration pay for imports, including electricity, the Associated Press reported.
Norway is no stranger to sensitive diplomacy and has previously been involved in peace work in several places, including Afghanistan, Colombia, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Mozambique, Myanmar, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Venezuela.
“We are extremely concerned about the serious situation in Afghanistan, where millions of people are facing a complete humanitarian catastrophe,” Huitfeldt said. “We can not allow the political situation to lead to an even worse humanitarian catastrophe.”
Some information for this story came from the Associated Press.