US officials to meet Taliban in Doha to discuss economy, rights
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[July 27, 2023]
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. officials will meet Taliban representatives
and "technocratic professionals" from Afghan ministries in Doha this
week, the State Department said on Wednesday, adding they will discuss
economic issues, security and women's rights.
No country has formally recognized the Taliban administration since the
group returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 when U.S.-led foreign
forces withdrew in chaos after a 20-year conflict.
Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Special Envoy for
Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Rina Amiri will meet a Taliban
delegation in Doha to discuss humanitarian support for Afghanistan,
security, women's rights, economic stabilization, and efforts to counter
narcotics production and trafficking, the State Department said.
The department's deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, reiterated U.S.
concerns about human rights abuses and the marginalization of women and
girls in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and said talks in the Qatari capital
did not "mean any kind of indication of recognition or any kind of
indication of normalization or legitimacy of the Taliban."
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"This does not indicate any change in the policy of the United States.
We have been very clear that we will engage with the Taliban
appropriately when it is in our interest to do so," Patel said.
A Taliban foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement that acting
foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi would lead the delegation.
"Afghanistan's priority during talks are ending sanctions and
blacklists, unfreezing Afghanistan's bank reserves and stopping
violation of Afghanistan's airspace," the ministry said, adding they
would also meet Qatari officials.
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![](../images/072723PIX/news_a76.jpg)
U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Thomas
West speaks with Afghan Representative Shah Gul Rezai during a
meeting at the Soria Moria hotel in Oslo, Norway January 24, 2022
NTB/Stian Lysberg Solum via REUTERS/File Photo
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The chaotic evacuation of U.S. troops in 2021 saw thousands of
desperate Afghans trying to enter Kabul airport and men clinging to
aircraft as they taxied down runways. An Islamic State suicide
bomber killed 13 U.S. servicemembers and more than 150 Afghans
outside an airport gate.
A State Department report last month criticized Democratic President
Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump for the
pullout, which was negotiated by Trump and executed under Biden.
Before their Qatar visit, West and Amiri will travel to Kazakhstan
where they will meet officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to discuss Afghanistan, the
State Department said.
They would also meet civil society members focused on women's
rights.
Their trip to Kazakhstan and Qatar is from July 26 to July 31, the
State Department said.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Additional reporting by
Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis, Jibran Ahmad and Charlotte
Greenfield; Editing by Paul Grant and Daniel Wallis, Robert Birsel)
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