Commit to the date of withdrawal from Afghanistan.. Biden warns against the “Khorasan” organization and his administration continues to coordinate with the Taliban

US President Joe Biden said that the United States is moving towards completing its mission in Afghanistan by the end of this month, but he linked the matter to the Taliban's continuing cooperation, and the Group of Seven demanded the movement's leaders to ensure a safe passage out after that date.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Group of Seven had approved a plan to deal with the Taliban, the first condition of which was that the movement allow the safe passage of Afghans wishing to leave the country even after the August 31 deadline.

"What we did today in the G7 is we agreed not only on a common approach to evacuations, but also on a roadmap for dealing with the Taliban," Johnson said at the conclusion of an emergency online meeting of G7 leaders on Tuesday.

"Our first condition is that they have to provide guarantees...until August 31 and beyond, regarding the safe passage of those wishing to exit," he said.

"Some of them will say they don't accept that, and I hope some will realize what this means because the G7 has so much influence, economically, diplomatically and politically," he added.

Johnson indicated that withholding large sums of money is an option among the tools of the "enormous influence" that the Group of Seven can exercise over the Taliban after its takeover of Afghanistan.

For its part, the White House said in a statement that President Biden told the G7 leaders during the meeting that the United States was on its way to completing its mission in Afghanistan by August 31.

"It depends on the Taliban continuing to cooperate, allow access to the airport, and not disrupt our operations," Biden said.

contingency plans

The US president asked the ministries of defense and state to develop contingency plans to adjust the timetable if necessary.

Biden stressed that the airlift led by his country to evacuate citizens of Western countries and Afghans who cooperated with foreign forces should end soon due to the increased risk of potential attacks on Kabul Airport by the local branch of the Islamic State.

"Every day that we are on the ground is another day in which we know that the Islamic State of Khorasan Province is seeking to target the airport and attack US and allied forces," he said.

Earlier, US administration officials told Reuters that the United States was in constant contact with the Taliban and that Washington had told the movement that the August 31 deadline was subject to its cooperation.

US officials said that the Department of Defense (Pentagon) suggested on Monday that Biden stick to that announced deadline.

In the same context, Bloomberg quoted a senior official in the US administration as saying that Biden announced his adherence to the deadline for withdrawal during the G7 summit held at the invitation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, indicating that he rejected the calls of his closest allies to extend the withdrawal date. In order to make way for the evacuations to be completed.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Biden did not announce during the summit a new date for withdrawal, and that the meeting of the seven countries (America, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan) kept the date set for the end of the evacuations from Kabul, adding that the evacuation from Afghanistan cannot continue without United State.

Hours before that, Foreign Policy magazine had quoted US officials that the US forces in Afghanistan - which currently number about 6,000 - will have to start the withdrawal process as of next Friday, in implementation of the scheduled date.

Britain's withdrawal

On the other hand, the British Guardian newspaper said late Tuesday that Britain is expected to complete its exit from Kabul within a period ranging between 24 and 36 hours, citing defense sources that the newspaper did not specify.

This comes at a time when the US military continued on Tuesday to carry out intensive evacuations from Kabul Airport, after US and other Western military planes evacuated on Monday about 20,000 people - including hundreds of Americans - bringing the total number of evacuees to about 50 thousand, while there are still Crowds in the vicinity of the airport waiting for their turn to leave Afghanistan.

The White House said that the evacuations must stop before August 31 to allow the withdrawal of troops, equipment and weapons.

On the other hand, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid reiterated the movement's refusal to extend the presence of foreign forces beyond the end of this month.

Mujahid said in a press conference in Kabul on Tuesday that the movement closed the road leading to the airport, and allowed passage only for foreign individuals, calling on the Americans not to encourage Afghans - especially qualified cadres - to leave their country.

Meetings in Kabul

Meanwhile, the head of the Taliban political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met Tuesday in Kabul, the special envoy of the Qatari foreign minister.

Barader expressed his thanks to the State of Qatar for its efforts and cooperation in solving the problems of Afghanistan, and expressed his hope that Qatar will continue its humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.

Earlier, several Western media reported that the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns held a secret meeting with the head of the Taliban political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Kabul on Monday.

CNN, citing a US official, said that the meeting between Burns and Brader addressed views on what to do by August 31.