Paris (AFP)

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is criticized and accused of "naivety" Wednesday by politicians, from the extreme right to the left, for having said he hoped to see the Taliban form "an inclusive government".

"This is not the same generation" as those who controlled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, argued Mr. Le Drian Tuesday evening on franceinfo, "they announced that they would respect the rights acquired during the 20 last years in Afghanistan ".

"They say they want to acquire respectability, honor. It is up to them to prove", he continued, judging that "the best proof would be to ensure that there is a transitional government , which is truly inclusive "and which shows that they" want to respect the law, end the violence and make civilians feel safe. "

"We therefore need an inclusive and representative government that meets the aspirations of the population," he insisted.

The reactions on the right did not take long.

"Either it is diplomatic language, or it is a nameless naivety", commented the spokesperson of the National Gathering Laurent Jacobelli Wednesday on LCI.

"If he wants women in the government, he believes in Santa Claus, if he believes that the Taliban have changed, it is very worrying for the defense of France," he added.

"The voice of France can not say that. Neither cynicism nor naivety can take the place of politics in the face of Islamist totalitarianism," added the deputy Les Républicains Guillaume Larrivé in a tweet.

"Astonishing statement by the head of French diplomacy ... We are impatiently awaiting a Taliban LGBTQIA + government ...", quipped on Twitter the deputy and deputy secretary general of the Republicans Pierre-Henri Dumont.

For the president of Debout la France Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, "it is the" apotheosis of the famous + disruptive + Macronian: + The inclusive Taliban government + !!

The diplomatic void has a name: #LeDrian.

Murderous naivety is on the march, ”he said on Twitter.

On the left, the president of the PS group in the National Assembly Valérie Rabault wondered in a tweet "how can the head of French diplomacy make these remarks", and called on "the international community" to "NOT recognize the Taliban government ".

Tuesday, the Elysée had stressed that the question of the recognition of the Taliban regime by Paris did not arise because "France recognizes countries, not regimes".

On franceinfo, the ecologist Matthieu Orphelin opposed Jean-Yves Le Drian's "strong optimism" to a call for "the greatest caution" in the face of what "seems to him, at this stage, a strategy of the Taliban to show that they would be respectable ".

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