The United States has defended revival of its diplomatic engagement with Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, saying “pure isolation” cannot help Washington achieve its objectives there.
Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West is leading the U.S. delegation to the first talks being held in person with senior Taliban representatives in more than three months, in Doha, Qatar.
The U.S. administration halted the dialogue in March when the hardline Islamist group abruptly decided against allowing all teenage Afghan girls to resume secondary school education.
A State Department spokesperson told VOA ahead of the Doha meeting that the U.S. administration is “focused on advancing U.S. interests” in Afghanistan, including counterterrorism, economic stabilization, human rights, the reopening of all schools and safe passage for Afghans who worked with U.S,-led international forces before the August Taliban takeover.
“We are advancing these interests through engagement. We cannot achieve our objectives with a policy of pure isolation,” the spokesperson said. “None of these engagements should be seen as ‘legitimizing’ the Taliban or its so-called government but are a mere reflection of the reality that we need to have such discussions in order to advance U.S. interests.”
Senior officials from the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development will accompany West in the talks with the Taliban.
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, accompanied by senior Finance Ministry officials and representatives of Afghanistan’s central bank, will lead the Taliban delegation.
$7 billion still frozen in US
The Doha meeting comes amid reports American officials are working with the Taliban on a mechanism to allow the Afghan central bank to use $7 billion in frozen funds, held in the United States, to deal with a hunger crisis stemming from years of war and persistent drought in the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order in February that was aimed at freeing half the $7 billion, to be used to benefit the Afghan people. The rest would be held for ongoing terrorism-related lawsuits in U.S. courts against the Taliban.
The State Department spokesperson confirmed to VOA that the Biden administration is “working to help find an appropriate mechanism that can serve as a steward of the $3.5 billion that President Biden set aside.” The spokesperson added that Washington is "urgently working to address complicated questions about the use of these funds to ensure they benefit the people of Afghanistan and not the Taliban.”
The Taliban takeover prompted foreign governments, led by the United States, to suspend development and security aid to the country. The strict enforcement of long-running sanctions on Taliban leaders has debilitated the Afghan banking sector and fueled economic troubles.
The United Nations warns more than half of the country’s estimated 40 million population needs emergency humanitarian assistance.
During talks in Doha, officials said, the U.S. delegation will also discuss with Taliban representatives ways to help people in Afghanistan in the aftermath of last week’s earthquake.
The powerful June 22 quake killed some 1,150 Afghans, including at least 155 children, and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes in hardest-hit southeastern Paktika and Khost provinces, according to Taliban officials and global aid agencies.
The Biden administration announced Tuesday it will give nearly $55 million in immediate humanitarian assistance to people in Afghanistan affected by the calamity, including essential food items, clothing, cooking utensils, blankets, jerry cans, and sanitation supplies to prevent waterborne diseases in the disaster-hit areas.
The United States has been the largest humanitarian donor to the conflict-torn country and has committed more than $774 million in relief assistance over the past year.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last August as American and NATO troops withdrew from the country and subsequently installed an all-male government. No foreign government has yet recognized the Taliban rule, citing its lack of inclusivity and concerns about terrorism and human rights, particularly restrictions on women’s rights to education and work.
In addition to suspending secondary education for most teenage girls, the Taliban have ordered women to wear face coverings in public and barred them from traveling beyond 70 kilometers without a close male relative.
Taliban leaders have rejected calls for removing the restrictions on women, insisting they are in accordance with Afghan culture and Islamic Shariah law.
VOA's State Department Bureau Chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.
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