Banning al-Qaeda * by the Taliban would be a step towards their recognition, the expert said

MOSCOW, Jan 1 The Taliban movement ** could ban the terrorist group Al-Qaeda * in Afghanistan and extradite its leaders in order to bring closer recognition by the international community, believes the head of the Eurasian Analytical Club Nikita Mendkovich. “At the moment, I believe that the situation with recognition has fundamentally changed. External forces are waiting for fundamental steps from the Taliban ** so that it can be assessed its real commitment to the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking. In addition, the issue of inclusive Until there is some progress on these tracks, there will hardly be a political decision on the official recognition and exchange of embassies, «the expert said in a comment to RIA Novosti. At the same time, the expert noted, semi-official diplomatic contacts will be maintained — this is already inevitable. He did not rule out that the Taliban will take some steps in 2022 for recognition. «A good step towards recognition would be an official statement on the ban of Al-Qaeda *, the arrest of the leaders of this (terrorist) group who are hiding in Afghanistan and the extradition their interested countries, that is, the Russian Federation, the US and the EU. The Taliban know where these people are, the same applies to other terrorist organizations, «Mendkovich added. IS * and the resistance forces in Afghanistan no longer exist, the Taliban said. However, it is still unclear when the Taliban will decide «to get away from the behavior of a terrorist organization and realize themselves as a government responsible for the fate of the Afghan people.» The state bank of Afghanistan, according to various sources, amounted to $ 9 billion, of which about 8 billion are in the United States) rests on the position of Washington, which took a position of political disagreement with the new Afghan regime, he believes. At the same time, the expert noted, the international community, including many Western countries, acknowledged that the assets should be transferred to Afghan banks, because they, in fact, were stolen by the American authorities. so that the international community would develop some mechanisms for putting pressure on the United States, forcing America to return the stolen goods, «said the head of the Eurasian Analytical about the club. Commenting on the likelihood of a civil war in Afghanistan, the expert noted that there will be no critical events over the next couple of months. Taliban * hopes for Russian recognition of the new Afghan government «Despite fears, the Taliban ** manage to accumulate enough food to keep winter from becoming completely hungry. The population is poor, but, to be honest, it was not rich under the previous government.» — Mendkovich explained. How the situation will develop in the spring is a big question, the analyst said. It will depend on how the Taliban operations ** against the Islamic State * terrorist group will develop and what position will be developed by external players, he said. “Because in the spring there is a risk that someone will try to bet on destabilization of the situation in the country: the same US because of its antagonism with the Taliban, «Mendkovich added. In early August 2021, the Taliban intensified their offensive against the government forces of Afghanistan, entered Kabul on August 15 and declared the next day that the war was over. The last two weeks of August from the Kabul airport, which was under the protection of the US military, there was a mass evacuation of Western citizens and Afghans who collaborated with them. On the night of August 31, the US military left the Kabul airport, ending the nearly 20-year US military presence in Afghanistan. In early September, the composition of the interim government of Afghanistan was announced, headed by Mohammad Hasan Akhund, who was in charge of foreign policy during the first rule of the Taliban ** and has been under UN sanctions since 2001. * A terrorist organization banned in Russia. ** The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.