KABUL: The Taliban government has severed consular ties with swathes of Afghan embassies in Western countries, Kabul said Tuesday, cutting off diplomats loyal to the former foreign-backed administration.
The 2021 Taliban takeover left diplomats staffing Afghanistan’s foreign missions in limbo, having pledged to serve a government which collapsed in chaos after the withdrawal of US troops.
No country has yet formally recognized the Taliban government but in the past three years the Kabul authorities have installed Taliban ambassadors in some neighboring embassies.
But Afghanistan’s foreign ministry said Tuesday it now “bears no responsibility” for credentials including passports and visas issued by missions out of step with Kabul’s new rulers.
The embassies include those in the cities of London and Berlin as well as the countries of Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Greece, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Canada and Australia.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly urged the Afghan political and consular missions in European countries to engage with Kabul,” a statement said.
“Unfortunately, the actions of most of the missions are carried out arbitrarily, without coordination and in explicit violation of the existing accepted principles.”
The statement said Afghans living abroad should deal instead with missions affiliated with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — the self-styled name the Taliban have given the country under their rule.
Pakistan, China and Russia are among Afghan embassies working on order from the Taliban government.
Embassies cut off from Kabul have found themselves in dire financial straits, relying heavily on consular fees to pay staff salaries, rent and bills.
Without that income they may struggle to remain open.
The foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on its future plans for the ostracized embassies.
Since surging back to power by force after a two-decade insurgency, Taliban officials have campaigned to be Afghanistan’s sole representatives on the international stage.
Considered pariahs over their treatment of women, they have been denied an ambassador to the United Nations.
However at UN-hosted talks in Doha last month they represented Afghanistan — with civil society groups including women’s activists excluded from the main talks.
Analysts, rights campaigners and diplomats are split over whether to engage with the Taliban government in a bid to soften their stance or freeze them out until they backtrack.
Taliban cut ties with Afghan embassies loyal to former government
https://arab.news/bkmmn
Taliban cut ties with Afghan embassies loyal to former government
- 2021 Taliban takeover left diplomats in Afghanistan’s foreign missions in limbo, having pledged to government that collapsed
- In the past three years the Kabul authorities have installed Taliban ambassadors in some neighboring embassies
US signs $228m deal with Rwanda for health under new aid model
- Under the health deal, the US will provide up to $158 million to Rwanda to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, the State Department said
- The health funding agreement comes a day after Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and his Democratic Republic of the Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, affirmed their commitment to a deal to end the conflict in eastern Congo
KIGALI: The US and Rwanda have signed a deal providing $228 million for the health sector in the East African nation, the State Department said, the second such pact under the US administration’s new approach to overseas aid.
Kenya became the first country this week to strike a deal with Washington under the “America First Global Health Strategy,” unveiled in September by the administration and aimed at improving target countries’ self-reliance in managing their health sectors.
The $228 million will be provided by both governments.
The Rwanda deal lays out “a comprehensive vision to save lives, strengthen Rwanda’s health system,” the State Department said, while helping to make America “safer.”
The health funding agreement comes a day after Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and his Democratic Republic of the Congo counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi, affirmed their commitment to a deal to end the conflict in eastern Congo.
Under the health deal, the US will provide up to $158 million to Rwanda to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, the State Department said.
The cash will also strengthen disease surveillance and outbreak response.
“In turn, the government of Rwanda plans to increase its own domestic health investment by $70 million, taking on greater financial responsibility as US support is gradually reduced over the years,” the department said.
The agreement will also build on an initiative that sees drone-delivery startup Zipline taking lifesaving medical products where they are needed, in co-operation with Rwanda, the department said.
“The agreement underscores Rwanda’s ambition to build a self-reliant, adaptive, and technology-enabled health system,” said Oliver Nduhungirehe, Rwanda’s foreign minister, after he signed the deal with US officials in Washington.
