Washington discusses with the Taliban the frozen Afghan funds

Talks between the United States and the Taliban continued earlier this week in Doha to discuss the issue of aid following the earthquake that struck Afghanistan, the State Department announced Friday.

In a statement, the State Department said that during the meetings on Wednesday and Thursday, the United States reiterated a previous pledge to provide $55 million in new earthquake relief assistance.

And the White House spokeswoman, Karen Jean-Pierre, said earlier that efforts were continuing to “move money” from the frozen reserves.

And this is about $3.5 billion in frozen reserves, according to Agence France-Presse. The United States does not recognize the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan since the movement seized power in August 2021.

On the other hand, the activities of a gathering organized by the “Taliban” movement, which included thousands of religious and tribal leaders, ended yesterday urging foreign governments to officially recognize their government, but without providing any indications of a change in attitudes towards international demands, such as the reopening of secondary schools for girls. “We call on the countries of the region and the world, especially the Islamic countries… to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan… to lift all sanctions, unfreeze the funds of (the Central Bank) and support development in Afghanistan,” Reuters news agency quoted the gathering participants as saying in a statement.

The group’s leader, Hebatullah Akhundzada, who is rarely seen in public, joined the three-day gathering of more than 4,000 men on Friday, delivering a speech congratulating the participants on the Taliban’s victory and affirming the country’s independence.
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