Afghanistan wants good ties with US, int'l community: Sirajuddin Haqqani

KABUL: Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Interior Minister of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, said that Kabul wants good ties with the US, as well as the international community. Haqqani made the remarks during a CNN interview, reports TOLO News.

When asked if he still considered the US as the "enemy", Haqqani, who is also the deputy leader of the Taliban's Islamic Emirate regime, said they do not "look at them (US) as enemies" and are committed to the Doha Agreement, and want relations with Washington based on principles and diplomatic norms.

"I would like to make a small clarification. The period of the last 20 years was a situation of defensive fighting and war. When the agreement was made in Doha, we decided that we would not be talking about this. In the future we would like to have good relations with the US and the international community," TOLO News quoted Haqqani as saying. He also reiterated his assurance that the Afghan soil will not be threatened by anyone. Regarding education of women in Afghanistan, an issue still being slammed by the international community, Haqqani told CNN that "there is no one" who "opposes education for women".

He said that soon there will be a "good news" about the education of girls and that a mechanism is being developed in this regard. "We all believe that education has been created as a blessing from God, which has been made essential to both men and women. As I mentioned earlier, there is no one who is opposed to education," he said.

"The problem is education based on the Afghan way of thinking and understanding, the culture aspect of Afghanistan. there is an issue of making arrangements of Islamic rules and principles." (IANS)

Also Read:  Taliban keep Afghan Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani's face out of camera's view

Also Watch: