DOHA: Taliban authorities said Monday they would press the international community over economic sanctions as they attended a UN-hosted summit in Doha with special representatives to Afghanistan for the first time.
The two-day meeting began on Sunday and is the third such summit to be held in Qatar in a little over a year, but the first to include the Taliban authorities who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, senior foreign ministry official Zakir Jalaly said the Taliban government delegation would use Monday’s meetings to address “financial and banking sanctions” and the “challenges” these pose to Afghanistan’s economy.
His statement followed an opening salvo late Sunday by the head of the Taliban delegation, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, as he addressed more than 20 envoys and UN officials.
“Afghans are asking why they are being ganged up on, on the basis of unilateral and multilateral sanctions,” Mujahid said as he questioned whether ongoing sanctions were “fair practice” after “wars and insecurity for almost half a century as a result of foreign invasions and interference.”
The talks are being held to discuss increasing engagement with the impoverished country of more than 40 million and a more coordinated response, including economic issues and counter-narcotics efforts.
In the aftermath of the Taliban’s return to power, the international community has wrestled with its approach to Afghanistan’s new rulers.
The Taliban government in Kabul has not been officially recognized by any other government since it took power.
It has imposed a strict interpretation of Islam, with women subjected to laws characterised by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
The inclusion of a Taliban delegation but the exclusion of civil society and women’s rights groups sparked outrage, with organizations accusing the UN and attendees of legitimising Taliban government policies.
“Caving into the Taliban’s conditions to secure their participation in the talks would risk legitimising their gender-based institutionalized system of oppression,” Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard said in a statement ahead of the talks.
The Taliban authorities have repeatedly said the rights of all citizens are guaranteed under Islamic law.
Mujahid said diplomats should “find ways of interaction and understanding rather than confrontation,” despite “natural” differences in policy.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is keen on engaging constructively with Western nations as well,” Mujahid said.
“Like any sovereign state, we uphold certain religious and cultural values and public aspirations that must be acknowledged.”
Taliban to press international community on Afghanistan sanctions
https://arab.news/8csgc
Taliban to press international community on Afghanistan sanctions
- The two-day meeting began on Sunday and is the third such summit to be held in Qatar in a little over a year, but the first to include the Taliban authorities who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021
Taliban discussed prisoner exchange with US: Afghan government
- An American woman was among more than a dozen staff of an international NGO arrested by Taliban authorities last September
- Many countries, including the US, warn against citizens traveling to Afghanistan
Zabihullah Mujahid did not name the US prisoners, but an American woman was among more than a dozen staff of an international NGO arrested by Taliban authorities last September, and aid worker Ryan Corbett has been custody in since 2022.
“We should be able to free our citizens in (an) exchange, as American citizens are important for them (the United States), just as Afghans are important for us,” Mujahid told a press conference in Kabul.
He said discussions over a prisoner exchange were held with US representatives during United Nations-led talks in Qatar.
The talks, which gathered UN officials, Taliban authorities and the special envoys to Afghanistan, ended on Monday.
“Two American citizens are imprisoned in Afghanistan,” Mujahid told the press conference, adding that Afghan prisoners were also held in the United States, including in the secretive US prison in Cuba.
“We have had discussions on their release with them (the United States) before. Afghanistan’s conditions should be accepted,” he said.
An American woman was among at least 18 staff of non-governmental organization International Assistance Mission (IAM) detained on accusations of carrying out Christian missionary work.
The UN in June warned Corbett’s “life could be at risk” and called for Taliban authorities to give him “immediate access to medical treatment for his deteriorating health.”
Dozens of foreigners have been detained by the Taliban authorities since the group’s return to power in August 2021.
Many countries, including the United States, warn against citizens traveling to Afghanistan, citing risks of wrongful detention, violence and kidnapping.
At least one Afghan prisoner remains in detention at Guantanamo Bay, Muhammad Rahim, whose family called for his release in November.
In February, two former prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay until 2017 were welcomed home to Afghanistan, more than 20 years after they were arrested.
Abdul Karim and Abdul Zahir had been transferred to Oman and held under house arrest until their release.
They were among hundreds of suspected militants captured by US forces and held in Guantanamo Bay.
US authorities faced accusations of torture and abuse against prisoners at the facility, where many were held without charge or the legal power to challenge their detention.
Most of the military prison’s inmates have been released over the years, including senior Taliban leaders.
The US government has said for years it is working to reduce the number of detainees and eventually shut down Guantanamo Bay, which lies on the island of Cuba but is under US jurisdiction.
US envoy to hold talks in Paris on defusing Israel-Hezbollah conflict, NYT reports
US envoy Amos Hochstein plans to meet French officials in Paris on Wednesday to discuss ways to defuse the escalating cross-border fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Last month, Hochstein said on that Washington was seeking to avoid “a greater war” following an escalation in cross-border fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military along Lebanon’s southern frontier in recent weeks.
Kenya police say over 270 arrested for criminal acts during Tuesday protests
- Widespread looting and property damage was reported during the youth-led demonstrations in various cities across the country
- Demonstrations began in an atmosphere of calm but later degenerated into violence, with police firing tear gas at rock-throwing crowds in Nairobi
NAIROBI: Kenyan police said they have arrested more than 270 people masquerading as protesters who are suspected of going on a criminal rampage during anti-government rallies on Tuesday.
Widespread looting and property damage was reported during the youth-led demonstrations in various cities across the country, which some protesters said had been infiltrated by “goons.”
“Security forces across the country singled out suspects found engaging in criminal activities in the guise of protesting, and took them to custody,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday.
It said a total of 204 suspects were arrested in the capital Nairobi and another 68 in various other areas of the country.
“The DCI has further deployed scrupulous investigators across the affected regions to pursue suspects captured on CCTV cameras and mobile phone recordings violently robbing, stealing and destroying properties and businesses of innocent citizens,” the statement added.
Tuesday’s demonstrations began in an atmosphere of calm but later degenerated into violence, with police firing tear gas at rock-throwing crowds in Nairobi and scenes of looting and property damage in the capital and other cities.
“Goons have infiltrated,” prominent Gen-Z protester Hanifa Adan posted on X on Tuesday.
Young Gen-Z Kenyans launched protests last month against a deeply unpopular finance bill that contained a raft of new taxes, adding to the hardship of people already suffering a cost of living crisis.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said on Monday that 39 people had been killed and 361 injured during two weeks of rallies — with the worst violence occurring in Nairobi on Tuesday last week — and condemned the use of force against demonstrators as “excessive and disproportionate.”
Although President William Ruto later abandoned the finance bill, the protesters are now calling for him to resign in a wider campaign against his rule under the hashtag “RutoMustGo.”
More demonstrations have been called for Thursday and Sunday.
It is the most serious crisis to confront Ruto since he took office in September 2022 in a nation often considered a beacon of stability in a turbulent region.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki denounced what he described as an “orgy of violence,” warning that the government would take action against anyone engaging in “anarchic chaos and cruel plunder.”
“This reign of terror against the people of Kenya and the impunity of dangerous criminal gangs must end at whatever cost,” he said.
In a television interview on Sunday, Ruto denied he had “blood on my hands” after the protester deaths but his calls for dialogue with Kenyan youth about their grievances have not appeased the demonstrators.
Ruto also warned that following the scrapping of the finance bill, the cash-strapped government would now have to borrow more.
The government had said previously that the tax increases were necessary to fill its coffers and service a huge public debt of some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), or about 70 percent of GDP.
Terror, ‘chaos’ as India stampede kills 121
- More than 250,000 people attended Hindu religious event in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state
- Religious gatherings in India have a grim track record of deadly incidents caused by poor crowd management and safety lapses
HATHRAS, India: Survivors of India’s deadliest stampede in more than a decade recalled on Wednesday the horror of being crushed at a vastly overcrowded Hindu religious gathering where 121 people were killed.
A police report said more than 250,000 people attended the event in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, more than triple the 80,000 for whom organizers had permission.
Discarded clothing and lost shoes were scattered across the muddy site, an open field alongside a highway, on Wednesday morning hours after the event.
People fell on top of each other as they tumbled down a slope into a water-logged ditch, witnesses said.
“Everyone — the entire crowd, including women and children — all left from the event site at once,” said police officer Sheela Maurya, 50, who had been on duty Tuesday as a popular Hindu preacher delivered a sermon.
“There wasn’t enough space, and everyone just fell on top of each other.”
Almost all the dead were women. Dozens more were injured.
Officials suggested the stampede was triggered when worshippers tried to gather soil from the footsteps of the preacher, while others blamed a dust storm for sparking panic.
Some fainted from the force of the crowd before falling and being trampled, unable to move.
Forensic officers scoured the site on Wednesday searching for evidence.
Uttar Pradesh’s state disaster management center, the Office of the Relief Commissioner, released a list of the dead on Wednesday morning.
It said 121 people had been killed.
Maurya, who had been on duty since early morning on Tuesday in the sweltering, humid heat at the preacher’s ceremony, was among the injured.
“I tried to help some women but even I fainted and was crushed under the crowd,” she told AFP.
“I don’t know, but someone pulled me out, and I don’t remember much.”
Deadly incidents are common at places of worship during major religious festivals in India, the biggest of which prompt millions of devotees to make pilgrimages to holy sites.
“The main highway next to the field was packed with people and vehicles for kilometers, there were far too many people here,” said Hori Lal, 45, who lives in Phulrai Mughalgadi village, near the site of the stampede.
“Once people started falling to the side and getting crushed, there was just chaos.”
Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city in Uttar Pradesh state, initially said panic began when “attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee.”
The initial police report into the deaths said it began when “followers started to collect earth” from the path of the preacher as he left the venue.
Maurya said she had worked at several political rallies and large events in the past but had “never seen such huge numbers.”
“It was very hot, even I fell there and I survived with great difficulty,” she added.
Four unidentified bodies lay on the floor of a makeshift morgue at the hospital in the nearby town of Hathras at dawn on Wednesday.
Ram Nivas, 35, a farmer, said he was searching for his sister-in-law Rumla, 54, who was missing after the crush.
“We haven’t been able to find her anywhere,” Nivas said after he had visited all the nearby hospitals throughout the night.
“We just hope she’s still alive,” he said quietly. “Maybe just lost.”
In the hospital’s emergency ward, Sandeep Kumar, 29, sat next to his injured sister, Shikha Kumar, 22.
“After the event ended, everyone wanted to exit quickly, and that is what led to the stampede,” Sandeep said.
“She saw people fainting, getting crushed.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced compensation of $2,400 for the next of kin of those killed and $600 for those injured in the “tragic incident,” and the upper house of parliament observed a minute’s silence on Wednesday.
President Droupadi Murmu said the deaths were “heart-rending” and offered her “deepest condolences.”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also a Hindu monk and was dressed in flowing saffron robes, flew in by helicopter to visit victim’s families.
Religious gatherings in India have a grim track record of deadly incidents caused by poor crowd management and safety lapses.
In 2008, 224 pilgrims were killed and more than 400 were injured in a stampede at a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur.
Malaysian court tosses jailed ex-Prime Minister Najib’s bid to serve graft sentence in house arrest
- Najib Razak was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad
In an April application, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a Jan. 29 pardons board meeting chaired by Sultan Abdullah, which also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine.
Najib’s counsel, Mohamed Shafee Abdullah, said it was disappointing for the High Court to rule Wednesday that the government has “no legal duty” to verify if such an order existed. He said they would file an appeal.
“The court said there is no legal duty but in terms of ethics, the government should have answered,” Shafee told a news conference at the court building.
In his application, Najib has accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office Jan. 31.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said he had no knowledge of such an order as he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Shafee said Najib’s application was not based on hearsay but that there was “digital evidence” of the addendum as Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz had taken a snapshot of it on his mobile phone when told by Sultan Abdullah. He said the government’s silence also implied there is such an addendum order.
“One thing is clear, not one person or any government institutions have said that this addendum doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, just say so. … If the government dare says clearly there is no addendum, we can all go home and sleep,” he said.
Najib, 70, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry on why Najib appeared to be given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
The Malaysian Bar, which represents over 20,000 lawyers, filed an application to challenge the pardons board decision that it said was illegal, unconstitutional and invalid. It said the decision made a mockery of Najib’s other ongoing criminal cases. The hearing for the Bar’s challenge started this week.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
