US cancels talks with Taliban over U-turn on girls’ education

KABUL/WASHINGTON: The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues, officials said on Friday, after Afghanistan’s rulers reversed a decision to allow all girls to return to high school classes.

The cancellation of talks was the first concrete sign that recent Taliban moves on human rights and inclusivity could directly impact the international community’s willingness to help the group, some of whose leaders are under US sanctions.

“Their decision was a deeply disappointing and inexplicable reversal of commitments to the Afghan people, first and foremost, and also to the international community,” a US State Department spokesperson told Reuters.

“We have cancelled some of our engagements, including planned meetings in Doha, and made clear that we see this decision as a potential turning point in our engagement.”

Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that the series of meetings between US and Taliban administration officials were set to take place on the sidelines of a conference in Qatar’s capital on Saturday and Sunday.

Some of the meetings were to have included United Nations and World Bank representatives, the sources added.

An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman confirmed that a Taliban delegation, including the acting foreign minister, had been expecting to go to Doha.

The talks were designed to cover issues including the independence of the Afghan central bank and the printing of Afghani currency banknotes.

Also up for discussion were a humanitarian exchange facility to free up cash and hundreds of millions of dollars of funding currently held in a World Bank Trust Fund that is earmarked for Afghanistan’s education sector, according to the three sources.