ROME, Italy — Italy’s former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has called for dialogue with Afghanistan’s “new regime” following the violent Taliban takeover of the country.
“It is too early to say, and there is no need for emotional reactions,” Conte said Wednesday at a book launch in the southern Italian vacation town of Ravello. “The geopolitical scenarios are very complex, and later we will need to reflect on whether the Doha agreements of 2020, made by the Americans, were a mistake, whether they were too indulgent toward the Taliban, and whether or not such a rapid outcome could have been expected.”
Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar leaves after signing an agreement with the United States during a ceremony in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29, 2020. – The United States signed a landmark deal with the Taliban, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months as it seeks an exit from its longest-ever war. Pompeo called on the Taliban to honour its commitments to sever ties with jihadist groups as Washington signed a landmark deal with the Afghan insurgents. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)
“What is certain is that we now have only the weapons of diplomacy, economic and financial support and we must cultivate a close dialogue with the new regime,” Conte continued, “which appears to be taking a fairly relaxed attitude, at least in words and from other signs taken as a whole.”
Conte, who now heads Italy’s Five Star Movement, said it is important in dealing with the Taliban “not to make the same mistake that was made in other cases.”
“Russia and China have to sit at the table; we cannot assume arrogant attitudes; the West must involve the whole community to reach the goal of keeping the Taliban, the new regime, in a close dialogue,” he said.
On Thursday, Taliban militants opened fire at an Independence Day rally in an Afghani town where protesters were flying the flag used by the country’s former government, killing several civilians.
Afghan origin Indian residents hold Afghanistan’s national flag and shout slogans inside their residence in Kolkata on August 19, 2021 against the Taliban’s military takeover and 102th Independence Day of Afghanistan. (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
A similar incident took place Wednesday in the city of Jalalabad, where the Taliban killed at least three people after opening fire on protesters carrying the former flag.
One Taliban official, Waheedullah Hashimi, told Reuters that the new government will follow Islamic law rather than a western model.
“There will be no democratic system at all because it does not have any base in our country,” Hashimi said. “We will not discuss what type of political system should we apply in Afghanistan because it is clear. It is sharia law and that is it.”
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