Will uphold Sharia law, protect human rights and respect international treaties: Taliban issue first statement on new Afghanistan govt.
World powers have told the Taliban the key to peace and development is an inclusive government that would back up its pledges of a more conciliatory approach, upholding human rights. After a previous 1996-2001 period in power marked by bloody vendettas and oppression of women.
After days of hectic negotiations and deliberations, the Taliban declared the restoration of their Islamic Emirate and named a new government. Excluding other political forces and giving control of internal security to a US-designated terrorist.
The naming of the new caretaker government also came four days before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that triggered the US invasion of Afghanistan.
Ministers told to implement Islamic law in Afghanistan
A statement attributed to Taliban Supreme Leader Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada told the government to uphold Sharia.
The Taliban want “strong and healthy relations with our neighbours and all other countries based on mutual respect and interaction”, said the statement, released in English – with the caveat that they would respect international laws and treaties “that are not in conflict with Islamic law and the country’s national values”.
Hibatullah Akhundzada has never made a public appearance. This is the first message appearing to come from him since the Taliban took control last month.
Hassan Akhund, new interim PM, served as deputy foreign minister from 1996 to 2001, when group was last in power. He is influential on the religious side of the movement, rather than the military side.
An interior minister on a US terrorism list
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the new acting interior minister, is to head of the militant group known as the Haqqani network. This are to affiliated with the Taliban and have been behind some of the deadliest attacks in the country’s. Two-decade-long war – including a truck bomb explosion in Kabul in 2017 that killed more than 150 people.
Unlike the wider Taliban, the Haqqani network has been designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US. It also maintains close ties to al-Qaeda.
According to FBI’s profile on Haqqani, he is “wanted for questioning in connection with January 2008 attack on hotel in Kabul.