WASHINGTON, UNITED STATED – In response to the UAE’s decision to host a Taliban leader who is on the UN travel sanctions list and has a $10 million bounty on his head by the US government, Matthew Miller, spokesperson for the US Department of State, says that UN member states must adhere to the travel ban. He said that countries should seek permission for receiving sanctioned individuals before allowing them to enter their countries.
During a press briefing on Wednesday, June 5, when asked about the recent trip of Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mr. Miller responded that it is important for UN member states to follow the procedures outlined by the UN 1988 Sanctions Committee.
Sirajuddin Haqqani’s faction, the Haqqani Network, is part of the Taliban regime and a US-designated terrorist group responsible for dozens of deadly attacks, including suicide bombings, roadside attacks, and various other criminal activities.
In September 2012, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) designated Sirajuddin Haqqani as an international terrorist and announced a $10 million reward for any information leading to his arrest.
According to the FBI’s profile on Haqqani, he is “wanted for questioning in connection with the January 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul that killed six people, including an American citizen.”
“He is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against United States and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Haqqani also allegedly was involved in the planning of the assassination attempt on Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2008,” FBI said.
On Tuesday, June 4, Mr. Haqqani made his first foreign trip since the Taliban regime’s return to power. During his visit to the UAE, he met with senior UAE officials, including President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, the Emirati capital.
According to the UAE state news agency, WAM, the meeting focused on strengthening the bonds of cooperation between the UAE and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, as well as exploring ways to enhance ties and regional stability.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief spokesman for the Taliban, confirmed Haqqani’s trip and the meeting. In a statement on Wednesday, Mujahid said that Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Taliban’s spy chief who was held for years at the US military’s Guantanamo Bay detention center, also accompanied Haqqani on this trip.
The Taliban spokesman said that their delegation discussed the improvement of bilateral relations with UAE officials and sought UAE cooperation in healthcare and infrastructure sectors for Afghanistan’s security entities. Additionally, they discussed securing the release of Afghan prisoners in the UAE and facilitating the issuance of visas for Afghans.
Several senior Taliban authorities, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, are also under U.N. Security Council sanctions, which include asset freezes and foreign travel bans. However, the sanctions have been repeatedly eased over the past years to enable Taliban leaders to engage in meetings with representatives from other countries abroad, facilitating the peace talks that ultimately led to a deal between the US and the Taliban and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Since the group’s return to the helm of power in Kabul, foreign dignitaries, especially UN and American senior officials have met with sanctioned Taliban leaders, including Mr. Haqqani. The US government has neither taken off the bounty on Haqqani’s head nor has acted to arrest him as the designation would require. Many wonder if Washington uses the terrorist designation for Mr. Haqqani, who also published an opinion essay in the New York Times in February 2020, to disguise its rather growingly substantive engagement with the unrecognized regime in Kabul.
