Berlin:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday named for a dialogue with the Taliban as the hardline Islamists finalise a new government that will set the tone for their rule in Afghanistan.
“We simply have to talk to the Taliban about how we can get people who have worked for Germany out of the country and bring them to safety,” Merkel told a new conference in North Rhine-Westphalia state.
“They are the ones we have to talk to now. We want to get people out of the country who have worked for German development organisations in particular and who now feel threatened,” Merkel mentioned.
The Taliban swooped into energy in Afghanistan 3 weeks ago, prompting a hurried work by Western states to evacuate their citizens and Afghans who had worked for their armies and help organisations.
Facing the challenge of morphing from insurgents to rulers, the Taliban now seem determined to snuff out fighting in the Panjshir valley prior to announcing who will lead the nation in the aftermath of last week’s US troop withdrawal.
Afghanistan’s new rulers have promised a more “inclusive” government that represents Afghanistan’s complicated ethnic makeup — although girls are unlikely to be integrated at the prime levels.
While the West has adopted a wait-and-see method to the group, there are some indicators of engagement with the new leaders gathering pace.
Earlier on Sunday, Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that the Taliban wanted “strong and official diplomatic relations with Germany”.
Already in August, Merkel had told parliament that the international neighborhood had to sustain dialogue with the Taliban if it was to guard improvements made in Afghanistan throughout two decades of NATO deployment.
The chancellor also mentioned Sunday it was a “good signal” that the airport in the Afghan capital Kabul was in use once more.
The country’s flag carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines resumed domestic trips on Friday and some humanitarian help flights have also been permitted into the nation.
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