DOHA, Qatar (AP/AFP) – A closed-door summit on Afghanistan ended Tuesday in Qatar without any formal acknowledgment of the Taliban-controlled government there, though the United Nations’ chief said they would hold another meeting in the future.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres attended the summit, which the world body described as nations and organizations trying to reach unified stances on human rights, governance, counterterrorism and anti-drug efforts. No recognition had been anticipated to come out of the meeting, though activists in recent days criticized the possibility.
“To achieve our objectives, we cannot disengage,” Guterres said. “And many called for engagement to be more effective and based on lessons we have learned from the past.”
He did not elaborate, though the Taliban previously controlled Afghanistan from 1994 to 2001.
Asked by a journalist if there would be any circumstance under which he’d be willing to directly meet with the Taliban, Guterres said: “When it is the right moment to do so, I will obviously not refuse that possibility — but today is not the right moment to do so.”
Absent from the meeting were the Taliban themselves, who took over Afghanistan in August 2021.
Taliban leaders warned from Kabul that the meeting could be “counter-productive”.
“Any meeting without the participation of IEA (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) representatives -- the main party to the issue -- is unproductive and even sometimes counter-productive,” said the head of the Taliban political office in Doha, Suhail Shaheen.
“How can a decision taken at such meetings be acceptable or implemented while we are not part of the process? It is discriminatory and unjustified,” he said.
Meanwhile, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will lead a delegation to Islamabad at the end of the week for talks with Pakistani and Chinese officials, the ministry said Tuesday.
Muttaqi, who is subject to a UN travel ban, has previously been given exemptions to travel to the neighboring country for talks.
The UN Security Council last week unanimously condemned the ban on its Afghan women staff, which the world body says has seriously threatened its efforts to aid the population.
Women’s groups staged protests on Saturday fearing the Doha meeting could propose steps toward recognition of the Taliban administration that returned to power in August 2021.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday however that “is not up for discussion” at the talks, which are being held behind closed doors.
The meeting would discuss human rights, including women’s rights, Afghanistan’s governance and ways to counter terrorism and drug trafficking, Djurric said.
Guterres wants “a common understanding with the international community on how to engage with the Taliban on these issues”, he added.
The UN review of its Afghanistan operation is due to be completed on Friday. The world body has said it faces an “appalling choice” on whether to stay in the country.