The United States and the Taliban expressed satisfaction with their first direct contact since the radical Islamists came to power in Afghanistan.
The spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price, described the two-day talks that both sides had over the weekend in the Qatari capital Doha as "open and professional".
The head of the Taliban's delegation, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, rated them as “positive”.
Rainer Hermann
Editor in politics.
Follow I follow
However, the issues raised by the two negotiating parties were different.
For the Americans, questions of security and terrorism were in the foreground, as well as the safe departure of foreign nationals and Afghan local staff, as well as human rights and, in particular, the participation of women and girls in Afghan society, Price said.
Before the start of the talks, which were classified as “pragmatic”, Washington had stated that the meeting did not mean recognition of the rule of the Taliban.
Talked about humanitarian aid
The Qatari news channel Al Jazeera reported that humanitarian aid had been discussed. The Taliban said they would support the work of humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan. Specifically, the Taliban called on the United States to release frozen funds from the Afghan state and remove the names of several senior Taliban members from the terrorist list.
The Taliban hoped that talks like the one in Doha would legitimize their rule, Habiba Sarabi told FAZ .
The rule of the Taliban has no legitimacy due to the violent seizure of power.
The Americans had two goals in direct contact, says Sarabi, who currently lives in Turkey.
On the one hand, they wanted to prevent the Taliban from getting closer to China and Russia, and on the other hand, they wanted to correct their mistakes, which would have made it possible for the Taliban to come to power by now trying to moderate the Taliban.