US RECOGNITION OF TALIBAN ‘LONG WAY OFF’ -BIDEN

Tue 07 September 2021:

President Joe Biden stated late Monday that the US is still a long way from recognizing the Taliban, who took control of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, in mid-August after the US withdrew.

“That’s a long way off,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

At a briefing last Thursday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US is in no rush to recognize the Taliban and will judge them “by their actions.”

On Aug. 31, the US announced the completion of its efforts to withdraw all of its forces from Afghanistan, bringing the longest war in American history to an end.

Two weeks before the pullout, the Taliban took over Kabul, sending people into a panic as thousands flocked to the city’s airport in an effort to escape the country.

Some 130,000 people, including Americans and Afghans, have been flown out of the country as part of a massive evacuation operation.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Qatar to discuss the chaotic aftermath of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Shortly before landing, an official disclosed that four Americans had left Afghanistan with Taliban knowledge, in the first departures arranged by Washington since its chaotic military pullout.

The four US citizens left by land and were greeted by US diplomats, said the senior official, without specifying to which country they crossed, adding that “the Taliban did not impede them”.

 

Qatar’s Emir discusses Afghanistan with US secretaries of state and defence

The Emir of Qatar and the visiting US secretaries of state and defence discussed developments in Afghanistan and efforts to enhance security there, the Emir’s court said, according to the Reuters news agency.

The Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin after their arrival in Doha earlier in the day.