Taliban needs to act on its verbal commitments or risk becoming international ‘pariahs,’ says Jean-Yves Le Drian.
PARIS (AA) – The question of recognizing the Taliban regime is irrelevant at present, France’s foreign minister said Wednesday.
Responding to a question on whether France would recognize the Taliban government, Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFMTV news that the question does not arise right now.
“When you take power by force, you are not legitimate. You know the history of the Taliban, what they did in the past, the acts of violence that some of them have just committed,” he said in the interview.
Earlier in the day, Le Drian said in a tweet: “I asked that the Taliban demonstrate by deeds that they have changed as they say. It is up to them to prove it. France stands alongside the Afghan people.”
In an interview with BFMTV news, he reiterated that the Taliban needs to prove with action the conciliatory statements they were making to gain international recognition.
In the first days after seizing power, the Taliban leadership has assured the peaceful transition of power, no revenge, employment and education rights for women and girls, forming an inclusive government under Islamic laws and dissuading the use of Afghanistan to attack other countries.
Le Drian said “we must achieve a situation of pacification as quickly as possible,” but this will be possible only when the Taliban take “appropriate actions.”
He added that there were reservations about the Taliban’s commitments, most of which were verbal and not followed on the ground in reality. He urged the militant group to act on its pledges or risk becoming “pariahs of the international community.”
The Taliban can act on its words, he said, by allowing the exit of Afghans who want to leave the country, preventing Afghanistan from becoming a terrorist sanctuary under its regime, facilitating international humanitarian aid, respecting women’s rights and forming a transitional government with all Afghan political forces.
For France, the main priority at present is to extradite the Afghans who were working with the mission, those who are committed to the defense of the law and the ones whose lives are threatened, he said.