LONDON (TASS): The British Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Simon Gass met on Tuesday in Kabul with high-ranking members of the Taliban movement. This is stated in a message released by the United Kingdom Foreign Office.
According to the Foreign Office, Gass was accompanied by the Charge d’Affaires of the British Embassy in Afghanistan, Martin Longden, acting from Doha. Among their interlocutors were the head of the Afghan Foreign Min-istry Mawlawi Amir Khan Mottaki and the deputy ch-airmen of the interim cabinet, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Mawlavi Abdul Salam Hanafi.
As stated in a short communique, British representatives discussed “how Great Britain can help to overcome the humanitarian crisis, the importance of preventing the country from becoming a hotbed of terrorism, the need for safe passage for those who want to leave the country.” “They also raised the issue of attitudes towards minorities and the rights of women and girls,” the Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Office promises that the British “government will continue to do everything in its power to ensure the safe passage of those who wish to leave [the country] and is committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan.”
In turn, Abdul Kahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Afghan Foreign Ministry, said on Twitter, citing Mottaki, that the Taliban leadership is ready to normalize full-fledged relations with Britain, as well as with all other countries.
“The Afghan Foreign Minister stressed that the UK should take positive steps in terms of normalizing cooperation and open a new chapter of constructive relations. He also added that the security situation has improved compared to what it was before,” representative of the foreign policy department.
