DOHA (Dispatches) – The Taliban warned the U.S. not to destabilize the Afghan government on Saturday during their first face-to-face talks since the American troops’ withdrawal.
As mourners in northern Afghanistan buried their dead from an attack on a Shia mosque, a Taliban delegation told U.S. officials in Doha that any weakening of their government could cause “problems for the people”.
“We clearly told them that trying to destabilize the government in Afghanistan is good for no one,” the Taliban foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, told the Afghan state news agency Bakhtar.
“Good relations with Afghanistan are good for everyone. Nothing should be done to weaken the existing government in Afghanistan which can lead to problems for the people,” he said.
The Taliban foreign minister said the Afghan delegation and U.S. counterparts discussed “opening a new page” between the two countries.
The Taliban representatives also asked the U.S. to lift a ban on the Afghan central bank reserves.
The Taliban are seeking international recognition, as well as assistance to ease economic crisis.
A state department official said the U.S. delegation would press the Taliban to ensure terrorists do not create a base for attacks in the country.
“We remain clear that any legitimacy must be earned through the Taliban’s own actions,” he said.
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-August, as the United States was in the middle of a chaotic troop withdrawal from the country.
The U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 removed the Taliban from power, but it worsened the security situation in the country. Two decades later, the Taliban have returned to power again.