RUSSIA PAVES WAY TO REMOVE TALIBAN FROM ‘TERROR’ LIST AND POTENTIALLY SYRIA’S HTS

Wed 18 December 2024:

Russia’s parliament passed a law that would allow for the suspension of bans on groups that Moscow has designated as terrorist organisations on Tuesday – paving the way for it to normalise relations with the Afghan Taliban and potentially with the new rulers of Syria.

No country currently recognises the Taliban government in Afghanistan, which seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces staged a chaotic withdrawal after 20 years of war. But Russia has been gradually building ties with the movement, which President Vladimir Putin said in July was now an ally in fighting terrorism.

The leader of Russia’s Muslim region of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, called on Monday for the removal of Syrian group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which this month toppled President Bashar al-Assad, from Russia’s list of banned terrorist groups.

The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989. Since then, Russia has made a diplomatic comeback as a power broker, hosting talks on Afghanistan involving senior representatives of the Taliban and neighboring nations.

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There is a deepening divide in the international community on how to deal with the Taliban, who have been in power for three years and face no internal or external opposition. Afghanistan’s rulers have pursued bilateral ties with major regional powers.

Putin called the Taliban “allies in the fight against terrorism” earlier this year, while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for the West to remove sanctions on Afghanistan and take “responsibility” for reconstruction efforts in the country.

Russia’s allies in Central Asia — Afghanistan’s neighbours — are also pledging better relations with the Taliban. Kazakhstan removed the Taliban from its own list of banned “terrorist” groups at the end of 2023.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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