Fazl Mahmood Fazli, former head of the Administrative Office of the President of Afghanistan, says the demands the Taliban are currently making of the United States had already been agreed upon at the highest level between the presidents of Afghanistan and the United States in 2017.
In a post on his X account, Fazli said that a joint working group was also established at the time to implement the agreement. However, he said the United States, due to its geopolitical and national interests, failed to demonstrate the necessary commitment to fully implementing the agreement.
He stressed that the Taliban cannot expect international legitimacy and respect as long as Afghan girls and women are deprived of education and employment, restrictions remain in place on the media and freedom of expression, and freedom of thought is suppressed.
Fazli said legitimacy is earned through responsible governance and respect for the rights of the people, rather than simply through demands made of the international community.
Fazli’s remarks came after Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, called for the normalization of relations with the United States and urged Washington to reopen its embassy in Kabul and invest in Afghanistan’s mining, infrastructure, agriculture, and trade sectors.
Writer:Saeed Sameer
