PARIS: The Taliban in Afghanistan have not yet shown any sign they are serious about ending their 17-year insurgency despite US efforts to push a fresh peace process, the country’s de facto prime minister said.
Abdullah Abdullah, who serves as “chief executive” of the unity government in Kabul, struck a far more skeptical tone about the prospects of a deal than his political rival, President Ashraf Ghani, and his Western counterparts.
Ghani said earlier this month it was “not a question of if, but when” an agreement would be reached with the Taliban, while the US envoy to the country even raised the possibility of a breakthrough before presidential elections in April.
“Recently there are renewed efforts in terms of the international community and especially the US,” Abdullah said during a wide-ranging interview in Paris that also covered his own political ambitions.
“We are not judging it too prematurely, but I would say that our experience as of now has been that they (the Taliban) have not shown any intention to get seriously engaged in the peace negotiations,” he added.
The comment on Wednesday came after the latest atrocity targeting civilians in Kabul when a bomber killed 55 people at a banquet hall at a ceremony to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.
Abdullah, a political veteran of the fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s and Taliban rule in the 90s, called it “beyond comprehension.”
Beleaguered Afghan security forces are also suffering an unprecedented level of casualties across the country where the Taliban and the Daesh group are stepping up attacks.
Returning to Kabul on Thursday after a three-day trip to France, Abdullah said he expected to be briefed fully about the latest round of talks between US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban, which are believed to have taken place in Qatar last week.
Whatever the outcome, he argued that Afghanistan should hold its presidential election as scheduled next April despite a recent upsurge in violence and suggestions from some that it should be delayed.
“My idea is to stick to the timing, make it work, because it’s part of the system and legitimacy of the system depends on the elections,” he said. “At the same time, continue the efforts on peace with full vigor.”
He downplayed any suggestion of a pre-election breakthrough with the Taliban.
“It will be very surprising if that happens, but should it happen ... that would be welcomed by the people of Afghanistan,” he added.
Abdullah has kept up suspense about his own political ambitions after twice running for president in 2009 and 2014 in campaigns that ended bitterly amid accusations of fraud.
After being beaten in 2014 by Ghani, Abdullah agreed to become prime minister of the unity government in a US-brokered deal — but the rivalry between the two men continues.
“I will actively be involved one way or another, but I have not made that final decision,” Abdullah said when asked if he would run in 2019.
Looking ahead to next April’s vote, Abdullah was candid about the lack of progress made in correcting the weaknesses in Afghanistan’s fraud-plagued electoral system.
He said he was “disappointed” by parliamentary elections in October, which were marred by a shambolic rollout of new biometric polling technology and missing or incomplete voter lists.
“Our expectations for the parliamentary elections and the conduct of them was much higher, and the people’s expectations were much higher,” he said.
There were thousands of complaints lodged against the Independent Electoral Commission, although four million voters did defy the security worries to turn out and cast a ballot.
The unity government had pledged to tackle problems that have repeatedly undermined faith in Afghan elections since the US-led invasion in 2001 overthrew the Taliban government in Kabul.
But Abdullah suggested that these efforts, like in other areas, have been hit by the fractious nature of decision-making in the multi-party government.
“It was the commitment of the unity government in 2014... that we will start implementing reforms. We started very late. Why did we do that?” he asked.
Abdullah’s defeats in 2009 and then again in 2014 — when he won the first round but slumped to a surprise defeat in the second — led to political crises which threatened to unravel the country’s fragile political system.
Should observers fear another tainted poll?
“There were a lot of lessons from the parliamentary elections. Should we and other relevant institutions deal with them thoroughly and seriously we can have and we should have better elections than in 2014,” he said.
Afghan Taliban not serious about peace, says government chief
Afghan Taliban not serious about peace, says government chief
- ‘Recently there are renewed efforts in terms of the international community and especially the US’
- ‘Our experience as of now has been that they (the Taliban) have not shown any intention to get seriously engaged in the peace negotiations’
Pakistani security forces kill 27 insurgents during raid in Balochistan
- The operation in southwestern Pakistan was conducted in Kachhi, a district in Balochistan province, the military said in a statement
QUETTA: Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout on Monday, killing 27 insurgents, the military said.
The operation in southwestern Pakistan was conducted in Kachhi, a district in Balochistan province, the military said in a statement. Security forces were acting on intelligence.
The slain “terrorists were involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as innocent civilians,” and were being sought by law enforcement agencies, the statement said.
It provided no further details about the slain men, but small Baloch separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Balochistan, which is the scene of a long-running insurgency, with an array of separatist groups staging attacks, mainly on security forces.
The separatists are demanding independence from the central government.
UK’s Starmer urged to fire minister hit by Bangladesh graft probe
- Siddiq, 42, has been dogged by claims about her links to Hasina, who fled Bangladesh last August
- Hasina, 77, has defied extradition requests to face Bangladeshi charges including mass murder
LONDON: Britain’s Keir Starmer faced fresh pressure Monday to sack his anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, as Bangladesh’s graft watchdog filed new cases against her and her aunt, the country’s ousted leader Sheikh Hasina.
Siddiq, 42, has been dogged by claims about her links to Hasina, who fled Bangladesh last August after a student-led uprising against her decades-long, increasingly authoritarian tenure as prime minister.
Hasina, 77, has defied extradition requests to face Bangladeshi charges including mass murder.
On Monday, Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission announced she and family members including Siddiq were subject to another graft probe, this time over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka.
Family members including Siddiq had already emerged as named targets of the commission’s investigation into accusations of embezzlement of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.
Bangladeshi money laundering investigators have since ordered the country’s big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to Siddiq as part of the probe.
Earlier this month, the UK minister referred herself to Starmer’s standards adviser, following the flurry of allegations, which also included that she lived in properties linked to her aunt’s Awami League party.
Siddiq has insisted that she has done nothing wrong.
Asked Monday whether her position in the UK government remained tenable, senior British minister Pat McFadden told Sky News she had “done the right thing” with the self-referral.
He insisted the standards adviser had the powers to “carry out investigations into allegations like this.”
“That is what he is doing, and that is the right way to deal with this,” McFadden said.
However, following further accusations in British newspapers over the weekend, UK opposition politicians want Siddiq fired.
“I think it’s untenable for her to carry out her role,” the Conservatives’ finance spokesman Mel Stride told Times Radio on Sunday.
The party’s business spokesman Andrew Griffith sought to focus the spotlight on Starmer, arguing Monday it was “about the tone at the top.”
“Remember he called himself ‘Mr Rules’, ‘Mr Integrity’,” he told LBC News, referring to Starmer’s pitch to voters before last year’s general election that he represented a break with years of Tory scandals.
Siddiq is an MP for a north London constituency whose ministerial job is part of the finance ministry and responsible for the UK’s financial services sector as well as anti-corruption measures.
Over the weekend, a Sunday Times investigation revealed details about the claims that she spent years living in a London flat bought by an offshore company connected to two Bangladeshi businessmen.
The flat was eventually transferred as a gift to a Bangladeshi lawyer with links to Hasina, her family and her ousted government, according to the newspaper.
It also reported Siddiq and her family were given or used several other London properties bought by members or associates of the Awami League party.
Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Prize-winning microfinance pioneer who heads a caretaker government, demanded a detailed probe in light of the allegations.
He told the newspaper the properties could be linked to wider corruption claims against Hasina’s toppled government, which he said amounted to the “plain robbery” of billions of dollars from Bangladesh’s coffers.
India’s Modi opens strategic tunnel to disputed frontier with China
- New tunnel is part of a $932 million infrastructure project linking Kashmir with Ladakh
- Last March, Modi also inaugurated a tunnel in disputed northeastern border state
NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated on Monday a strategic Himalayan road tunnel that would give year-round accessibility to areas along the contested border with China.
The Sonamarg tunnel is part of a $932 million infrastructure project that helps connect Indian-administered Kashmir with Ladakh, a high-altitude, cold desert region nestled between India, Pakistan and China that has been the subject of territorial disputes for decades.
As the 6.4-km-long passage, also known as Z-Morh, stretches beneath a treacherous mountain pass cut off by snow for four to six months a year, it is expected to increase mobility in the region and allow rapid deployment of military supplies.
“With the opening of the tunnel here, connectivity will significantly improve and tourism will see a major boost in Jammu and Kashmir,” Modi said at the opening ceremony in Sonamarg.
The massive infrastructure project also includes a series of bridges, high mountain roads and a second tunnel — expected for completion in 2026 — of about 14 km that will bypass the challenging Zojila pass and connect Sonamarg with Ladakh.
“The inauguration of the tunnel ensures uninterrupted supply chains for military essentials, safeguarding lives by mitigating avalanche-related risks,” Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Jairam Gadkari said.
India’s new tunnel opened amid an ongoing border dispute with China, which came to a head in 2020 following deadly clashes on their de facto Himalayan border known as the Line of Actual Control.
The conflict led the two countries to deploy thousands of troops to the area, as both sides stopped patrolling several points on the border in Ladakh to avoid new confrontations.
Last October, New Delhi and Beijing reached a deal to resolve the military stand-off after multiple high-level meetings aimed at resolving the conflict.
“India has been trying to reinforce its border network so that it is able to provide logistics support for the army and in the process also help civilians,” Prof. Noor Ahmad Baba from the political science department at the University of Kashmir told Arab News.
He said the tunnel is significant for its security and defense aspect and how it is improving connectivity to tourist spots like Sonamarg.
“(The tunnel) gives all-weather connectivity to the Ladakh region … which is a strategically significant region because of the continuous tension with China.”
India and China have been unable to agree on their 3,500-km border since they fought a war in 1962.
Last March, Modi inaugurated the Sela tunnel in the northeastern border state of Arunachal Pradesh, which the government has said will strengthen strategic capabilities along the LAC.
Germany welcomes release of German-Iranian rights activist from prison in Iran and her return home
- FM Annalena Baerbock: It’s ‘a great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again’
- Taghavi was arrested in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to prison for alleged involvement in an ‘illegal group’
BERLIN: Germany’s foreign minister on Monday welcomed the release of a German-Iranian rights activist from prison in Iran and her return to Germany.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on the social media platform X that it’s “a great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again.”
Baerbock retweeted a post by Taghavi’s daughter, Mariam Claren, with a photo of herself hugging her mother, which said: “It’s over. Nahid is free! After more than 4 years as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran my mother Nahid Taghavi was freed and is back in Germany.”
The German Foreign Office expressed delight that Taghavi’s “time of suffering has come to an end and that she has been reunited with her family.”
“Ms. Taghavi and her family have endured unbearable hardship,” the ministry said, adding that the German government had worked hard for her “overdue release.”
Taghavi was sentenced to 10 years and eight months in prison in Iran in 2021.
Rights group Amnesty International, which lobbied for Taghavi’s release for years, said in a statement Monday that “after more than 1,500 days in arbitrary detention, Iranian-German women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi has been released.”
“Since her arrest, Amnesty International had been campaigning for her unconditional release and an end to her persecution,” the group said, adding that Taghavi landed in Germany on Sunday.
Taghavi was arrested in October 2020 during a visit to Tehran and later sentenced to prison for alleged involvement in an “illegal group” and for “propaganda against the state” and was held incommunicado for months and tortured, Amnesty International said.
Afghanistan hails Saudi ties as Taliban FM meets Kingdom’s envoy in Kabul
- In 1996-2001, Taliban rule was recognized by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- Saudi embassy in Kabul has been reopened since December
KABUL: Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister has said ties with Saudi Arabia were “invaluable” to the country, following his first meeting with Riyadh’s new envoy in Kabul.
Amir Khan Muttaqi held talks with the Saudi Ambassador to Afghanistan Faisal Torki Al-Buqam on Sunday, less than a month since the Kingdom reopened its embassy in the Afghan capital.
“The meeting underlined matters related to expanding bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia,” foreign affairs ministry spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad said in a statement.
“Welcoming the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia & calling Afghanistan-Saudi relations invaluable & historic, FM Muttaqi underscored the need to increase the exchange of delegations between the two countries.”
Saudi Arabia was among a host of nations that withdrew its diplomats from Kabul in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power and the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan.
Though the Taliban are not officially recognized by any country in the world, Saudi Arabia has joined a number of foreign governments in resuming the work of its diplomatic mission in Kabul.
The Kingdom has been providing consular services for Afghans since November 2021, and resumed sending aid through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center later that same year.
“Our goal is to take advantage of the opportunities available to us,” Zakir Jalaly, director of the second political division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News on Monday.
“We also welcomed the (reopening) of the Saudi embassy and expressed our desire to see increased cooperation between the two countries. Saudi Arabia’s religious, political, and regional position make relations with the country vital for Afghanistan.”
During the first Taliban stint in power in 1996-2001, their administration was recognized by three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Since they retook control of Afghanistan, the Taliban administration has been working to gain international recognition and dealing on a bilateral level with regional countries, including India, China, Central Asian republics, as well as Gulf nations.
“Resuming diplomatic relations with another country like Saudi Arabia means further steps toward legitimacy and recognition of the Islamic Emirate,” Abdul Saboor Mubariz, board member of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul, told Arab News.
“Cooperation between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia can also be enhanced in other areas. For instance, Saudi Arabia needs a human workforce and Afghanistan can cooperate in this regard in case of an agreement and facilitation of work visas for Afghans … Afghanistan can also encourage Saudi Arabia to invest in the country.”
Azizullah Hafiz, a political science lecturer at the Ghalib University in the western city of Herat, said the Kingdom was a “very important country” at the global and regional level.
“Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan have had very long relations. Like other nations in the Muslim world, Afghans look at Saudi Arabia as a leader of the Islamic world and therefore, expect an active role from the country in Afghanistan,” Hafiz told Arab News.
Afghans also stand to benefit from critical humanitarian aid and development assistance, particularly through investment in infrastructure projects, he added.
“Presence of the Saudi ambassador in Kabul will facilitate direct engagement with the Afghan government and overcome concerns as it will also pave the way for enhanced cooperation in areas such as diplomacy, trade and investment.”
