The Fort Worth Press - Norway says putting 'tangible demands' to Taliban at aid talks

USD -
AED 3.673005
AFN 68.386442
ALL 93.021933
AMD 389.349314
ANG 1.803734
AOA 913.000031
ARS 1002.721397
AUD 1.53358
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.702057
BAM 1.854577
BBD 2.020785
BDT 119.602116
BGN 1.858799
BHD 0.376916
BIF 2956.030306
BMD 1
BND 1.344124
BOB 6.930721
BRL 5.790848
BSD 1.000863
BTN 84.433613
BWP 13.672612
BYN 3.275301
BYR 19600
BZD 2.017372
CAD 1.39639
CDF 2864.999911
CHF 0.88374
CLF 0.035265
CLP 973.069559
CNY 7.241401
CNH 7.24719
COP 4396.59
CRC 508.251983
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 104.558213
CZK 24.0877
DJF 178.22092
DKK 7.087555
DOP 60.364405
DZD 133.750861
EGP 49.678296
ERN 15
ETB 124.782215
EUR 0.950275
FJD 2.269701
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.791103
GEL 2.740301
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.887842
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000247
GNF 8627.008472
GTQ 7.726299
GYD 209.391416
HKD 7.782965
HNL 25.291226
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.472895
HUF 390.756993
IDR 15903.25
ILS 3.732285
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.493503
IQD 1311.043259
IRR 42092.505939
ISK 138.290123
JEP 0.789317
JMD 158.639851
JOD 0.709302
JPY 154.656495
KES 129.249619
KGS 86.506766
KHR 4038.536303
KMF 467.499881
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1398.125025
KWD 0.30759
KYD 0.834076
KZT 497.17423
LAK 21976.521459
LBP 89633.50686
LKR 291.187013
LRD 181.150969
LSL 18.152914
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.883414
MAD 9.998293
MDL 18.214834
MGA 4685.233124
MKD 58.48862
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.024142
MRU 39.785889
MUR 46.412517
MVR 15.460006
MWK 1735.461174
MXN 20.325297
MYR 4.464971
MZN 63.950307
NAD 18.152914
NGN 1680.590024
NIO 36.829479
NOK 11.03348
NPR 135.09167
NZD 1.703345
OMR 0.385001
PAB 1.000778
PEN 3.7981
PGK 4.029035
PHP 59.039501
PKR 278.226704
PLN 4.126669
PYG 7838.117183
QAR 3.649699
RON 4.729799
RSD 111.205995
RUB 101.000437
RWF 1380.157217
SAR 3.754257
SBD 8.355531
SCR 13.619994
SDG 601.497088
SEK 11.030315
SGD 1.343699
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.575045
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.975839
SRD 35.43028
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.757041
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.142596
THB 34.647019
TJS 10.658746
TMT 3.5
TND 3.159078
TOP 2.342102
TRY 34.465475
TTD 6.776157
TWD 32.567494
TZS 2652.359028
UAH 41.269214
UGX 3693.413492
UYU 42.784805
UZS 12854.406494
VES 46.433371
VND 25422.5
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 622.001915
XAG 0.032192
XAU 0.000375
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.761528
XOF 622.001915
XPF 113.087675
YER 249.924998
ZAR 18.116198
ZMK 9001.198706
ZMW 27.697968
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    0.1590

    24.679

    +0.64%

  • RBGPF

    -0.5000

    59.69

    -0.84%

  • NGG

    -0.7100

    62.56

    -1.13%

  • RYCEF

    0.1900

    6.8

    +2.79%

  • RIO

    -0.2400

    62.15

    -0.39%

  • AZN

    0.6300

    63.83

    +0.99%

  • SCS

    0.1300

    13.2

    +0.98%

  • GSK

    -0.0050

    33.345

    -0.01%

  • CMSD

    0.1800

    24.44

    +0.74%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.25

    +0.15%

  • RELX

    0.3800

    45.49

    +0.84%

  • BCC

    2.9300

    140.34

    +2.09%

  • VOD

    -0.0550

    8.885

    -0.62%

  • BTI

    -0.1800

    36.9

    -0.49%

  • BCE

    -0.4200

    26.58

    -1.58%

  • BP

    0.3300

    29.41

    +1.12%

Norway says putting 'tangible demands' to Taliban at aid talks
Norway says putting 'tangible demands' to Taliban at aid talks

Norway says putting 'tangible demands' to Taliban at aid talks

Norway said it would press the Taliban with "tangible demands" during talks in Oslo on Tuesday, the last day of the hardline Islamists' controversial first visit to Europe since returning to power in Afghanistan.

Text size:

A Taliban delegation led by Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has been in Norway since Saturday for talks focused on aid to Afghanistan.

The humanitarian situation has rapidly deteriorated since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, when international aid came to a sudden halt, worsening the plight of millions of people already suffering after several severe droughts.

The Taliban delegation met members of Afghan civil society on Sunday, followed by Western diplomats on Monday.

They were to wrap up their visit on Tuesday with several bilateral meetings, including with a Norwegian political official, and discussions with non-governmental organisations.

"This is not the beginning of an... open-ended process", said Norwegian state secretary Henrik Thune ahead of his talks with the delegation.

"We are going to place tangible demands that we can follow up on and see if they have been met", he told Norwegian news agency NTB.

The demands were to include the possibility of providing humanitarian aid directly to the Afghan people, according to NTB.

It was also to call for human rights to be respected, in particular those of women and minorities, such as access to education and health services, the right to work, and freedom of movement.

- Missing women activists -

While the Islamists claim to have modernised, women are still largely excluded from public-sector employment and most secondary schools for girls remain closed.

Norway was also expected to raise the plight of two women activists who went missing in Kabul last week after taking part in a demonstration. The Taliban have denied responsibility.

The Taliban were toppled in 2001 but stormed back to power last August as US-led forces began withdrawing.

They view this week's meetings -- held behind closed doors in a hotel near Oslo -- as a step toward international recognition and the unblocking of financial aid.

"Norway providing us this opportunity is an achievement in itself because we shared the stage with the world," Foreign Minister Muttaqi said Monday after talks with representatives of the United States, the European Union, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Norway.

No country has yet recognised the fundamentalist regime, and Norway has insisted the talks do "not represent a legitimisation or recognition of the Taliban".

Some 55 percent of the Afghan population is suffering from hunger, according to the United Nations. But the international community is waiting to see how the Taliban intend to govern before unblocking any aid.

"We cannot save lives unless all the sanctions are lifted", the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, told AFP before sitting down with the Taliban.

Freezing aid is "hurting the same civilians that the NATO countries spent hundred of billions on defending until August", he said.

A spokesman for the Taliban foreign ministry said the delegation also held bilateral talks on Tuesday with a senior French foreign ministry official, Bertrand Lotholary, and EU special representative Tomas Niklasson.

Oslo's decision to host a delegation has been criticised by some experts and members of the Afghan diaspora. Several protests have been held outside the foreign ministry in the capital.

Among the 15 members of the all-male Taliban delegation is Anas Haqqani, a leader of the most feared and violent faction of the Taliban movement.

M.Cunningham--TFWP