Pakistan and Qatar call for unconditional humanitarian aid to Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 9 (Reuters) – Pakistan and Qatar on Thursday called on the international community not to help Afghanistan humanitarianly conditioned on the political evolution of the new Taliban government.

“To save the lives and people of Afghanistan, there should be no rope,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad along with his Qatari Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Qureshi said the world is watching the conduct of the new Taliban political system to see if it fulfills promises on key issues, including human rights.

“If you are not prepared for immediate economic aid or development, that’s fine … but don’t take steps that lead to an economic collapse in Afghanistan,” he added.

His words echoed Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed: “Humanitarian assistance must be independent of any political progress.”

He said Afghans deserve to be supported despite what is happening on the political landscape.

Pakistan and Qatar are considered the two countries with the most influence over the Taliban.

Pakistan has long been considered a country where many senior Taliban leaders fled after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. In 2013, the Taliban opened its political office in the Qatari capital of Doha, where most of his senior positions have been since. based.

Sheikh Mohammed said the first international trade flight to leave Afghanistan since the withdrawal of U.S. troops departed Thursday with the help of the Taliban, whom he thanked.

“This is really what we expect from the Taliban … to see these positive statements demonstrated in action,” he said, adding that Afghanistan should be open to people coming and going.

Qureshi also called for the thawing of Afghanistan’s foreign assets.

The vast majority of Afghan central bank assets are located outside the country. A U.S. official said the Afghan government’s central bank assets in the United States will not be made available to the Taliban. Read more

“Frozen goods, they thaw them and allow Afghans to use their money for their benefit for their people,” Qureshi said.

Report of the editorial staff of Islamabad Edition by Peter Graff and Alistair Bell

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