APA-Banjul (The Gambia) The Taliban government in Afghanistan has made an official request to participate in next month’s Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in The Gambia, APA can report on Monday.
The 15th heads of state and government summit of OIC, the second largest gathering of world leaders after the UN General Assembly, holds in Banjul on 4 and 5th May 2024 under the theme ”Enhancing Unity and Solidarity Through Dialogue for Sustainable Development”.
Summit host The Gambia had had no diplomatic relations with past or current Afghan governments and the position of the Gambian authorities on the Taliban request is not known.
According to the details of a meeting between the Afghan Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi and the special envoy of the OIC Secretary-General for Afghanistan, Tariq Ali Bakheet, the Taliban are keen to be represented in Banjul when member countries meet to discuss global issues affecting the Muslim world.
The Taliban government is widely regarded as an isolated pariah over the ban in girls education, a situation the interim authorities in Kabul have been working to reverse since they took over power almst three years ago.
There was no indication from Bakheet’s meeting with officials in Kabul that the Taliban request to attend the Banjul summit will be granted.
The de facto Taliban government swept to power in August 2021 after the fall of the civilian government led by Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
Since then much of the world including some key members of the OIC have refused to recognise the new authorities in Afghanistan despite expressing a willingness to engage them on issues of reforms in education and gender rights.
The meeting in Kabul headlined the current crises in the Muslim world with a view to finding a common to tackle the challenges in member countries.
The Taliban government said its foreign policy towards fellow OIC members is aimed at strengthening relations with them.
WN/as/APA