- 'Stubborn' janitor camps out amid rubble of Los Angeles fires
- Fritz fires warning with Australian Open demolition job
- Edwards steps up late as Timberwolves beat Wizards
- Blue Origin scrubs key test launch again, eyes Thursday
- North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles into sea
- Asian markets mixed as traders eye US inflation data, earnings
- 'Not for the poor': Indonesians in capital face housing, commute woes
- Blue Origin eyes early Tuesday launch but weather an issue
- Canadian insurers face record costs from 2024 extreme weather
- NATO Baltic leaders set to boost security after cable 'sabotage'
- Trump's return threatens resurgence of trade wars
- Even before taking office, Trump shaking up global order
- 'Disruptor' Medvedev and The Demon embark on road to Australian Open glory
- Trump unbound: America braces for wild, dark comeback
- 'Afraid to live here': urban Bolivia's death-defying homes
- Nine charged over looting in LA fires: prosecutor
- Colombia star Rodriguez leaves La Liga for Mexico
- Timberwolves' Edwards fined again for 'obscene gestures'
- Lazio fire far-right falconer after online penis posting
- 'Mommy, what's happening?': Young families left traumatized by LA fires
- Iran, European powers hold 'constructive' nuclear talks
- Under-fire Wales boss Gatland accepts change likely unless results improve
- California governor spars with Musk over wildfire 'lies'
- Village People, Carrie Underwood to perform at Trump inauguration
- Grammys still set for February 2, will support LA fire relief
- Impeachment trial of South Korean President Yoon to begin
- Devastating LA fires prompt 2028 Olympics debate
- Biden says America 'stronger' on world stage in farewell speech
- Glitzy Oscars nominees' lunch cancelled after LA wildfires
- Fresh off latest hit album, Bad Bunny announces Puerto Rican concert residency
- Tyson Fury: Final curtain for the 'Gypsy King'?
- 'Defective' Paris Olympics medals to be replaced, says IOC
- 'Sticking plaster' Moyes backs Everton to beat Premier League drop
- Heavy fighting rocks Gaza amid rising hope for truce deal
- Punishing 2025 Giro to complete hat-trick of Roma climaxes
- Search for bodies as LA firefighters brace for more wind
- US says Gaza deal 'can get done this week'
- Hassan set for London Marathon return after stunning debut
- Under-pressure Wales boss Gatland says he 'knows it's about results'
- Operation to pull out illegal miners from abandoned S. African pit
- Kazakhstan says part of Aral Sea has nearly doubled in volume
- Jegou, Auradou 'can be picked' for France, says Galthie
- Lebanon's president names ICJ judge Nawaf Salam prime minister
- Havertz's wife calls for respect after threats to unborn child
- England cricket great Anderson, 42, to play on for Lancashire
- Russia accuses Ukraine of 'energy terrorism' over alleged pipeline strike
- Ubisoft bruised but not broken by 'Assassin's Creed' delay
- Nuno aims to keep Premier League 'title challengers' Forest grounded
- Vendee Globe victor Dalin puts misery of 2021 behind him
- Lebanon lawmakers throw weight behind ICJ judge Salam for PM
Taliban closer to international recognition, says foreign minister
The Taliban are inching closer towards international recognition but any concessions Afghanistan's new rulers make will be on their terms, the regime's foreign minister said in an interview with AFP.
In his first interview since returning from talks with Western powers in Oslo, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also urged Washington to unlock Afghanistan's assets to help ease a humanitarian crisis.
No country has formally recognised the government installed after the Taliban seized power in August as US-led forces withdrew following a 20-year occupation.
But Muttaqi told AFP late Wednesday that Afghanistan's new rulers were slowly gaining international acceptance.
"On the process of getting recognition... we have come closer to that goal," he said.
"That is our right, the right of the Afghans. We will continue our political struggle and efforts until we get our right."
The talks in Norway last month were the first involving the Taliban held on Western soil in decades.
While Norway insisted the meeting was not intended to give the hardline Islamist group formal recognition, the Taliban have touted it as such.
Muttaqi said his government was actively engaged with the international community -- a clear indication, he insisted, of growing acceptance.
"The international community wants to have interaction with us," he said. "We have had good achievements in that."
- Under pressure -
Muttaqi said several countries were operating embassies in Kabul, with more expected to open soon.
"We expect that the embassies of some of the European and Arab countries will open too," he said.
But Muttaqi said any concessions the Taliban made in areas such as human rights would be on their terms and not as a result of international pressure.
"What we are doing in our country is not because we have to meet conditions, nor are we doing it under someone's pressure," he said.
"We are doing it as per our plan and policy."
The Taliban have promised a softer version of the harsh Islamic rule that characterised their first stint in power from 1996 until 2001.
But the new regime has been swift to bar women from most government jobs and close the majority of girls' secondary schools.
Still, despite clear evidence to the contrary, Muttaqi insisted the new regime had not sacked any employees of the previous US-backed government.
"None of the 500,000 employees of the previous regime, men or women, have been fired. They all are getting paid," he said.
But on the streets of Kabul and elsewhere in the country, thousands of people say they have lost their jobs or that they have not been paid for months.
- Conditional aid -
Long dependent on international aid, Afghanistan's economic crisis has been made worse by Washington freezing nearly $10 billion in state assets held abroad.
With poverty deepening and a drought devastating farming in many areas, the United Nations has warned that half of the country's 38 million population faces food shortages this winter.
Washington and much of the global community insist any financial aid is conditional on the Taliban improving their rights record -- especially regarding women.
The militants have forcefully dispersed women's protests, detained critics and beaten Afghan journalists reporting on anti-regime rallies -- something Muttaqi also denied.
"Until now we have not arrested anyone who is against the ideology of this system or this government, and we have not harmed anyone," he said.
Still, the United Nations and Amnesty International blamed the Taliban for detaining, then releasing, two Afghan journalists snatched from outside their office this week.
Two women activists have also been missing since protesting in Kabul two weeks ago.
The Taliban have denied knowledge of their whereabouts and say they are investigating.
bur-jd-rh-fox/oho
F.Müller--BTB