The Taliban’s Minister of Interior, Sirajuddin Haqqani, met with a delegation of scholars from the United Arab Emirates to discuss political, economic, and security issues related to Afghanistan.
According to a newsletter released by the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior on Friday, Haqqani expressed his gratitude to the United Arab Emirates for handing over the Afghanistan consulate in Dubai to the Taliban and stressed that interaction with Afghanistan is in the interest of neighboring countries, the region, and the world.
While calling for good interaction with the world, he warned that “the world should not play two-sided politics in interaction with Afghanistan,” because according to him, “it will harm the entire region.”
“Those who want Afghanistan to become a deserted island are wrong, because Afghanistan has an owner and that is us.” the Taliban’s Minister of Interior added.
During the meeting, the head of the UAE Scholars delegation, Omar Habtoor Al-Darei, also raised concerns about the ban on girls’ education and other problems that need to be solved for achieving long-term goals. In response, according to the newsletter, the Taliban’s Minister of Interior assured him that the restriction on girls’ education is temporary and that the Taliban government is committed to all the Sharia rights of the Afghan people, including education for both men and women.
Despite these assurances, since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, girls above the sixth grade have been prevented from going to school and universities. The Taliban officials have repeatedly promised said restrictions to be temporary, yet have never given a specific date for when girls’ schools and universities would reopen.
