On Tuesday, Sky News reported that the Taliban, who arrested in September, a former British soldier deported from Afghanistan along with a British delegation met Kabul with senior Taliban officials.
Ben Slater, who ran the Nomad Concepts Group in Kabul, was arrested by the Taliban when he tried to help hundreds of Afghans leave the country.
Sky News, quoting a senior British government source, said she was allowed to travel from Kabul to the Qatari capital, Doha, on Tuesday on a special flight arranged by the Qatari government for two senior British diplomats. It is not yet clear how his eviction was negotiated and organized.
The British Foreign Office merely said that Simon Gass, the Prime Minister’s representative for the transition in Afghanistan and Chargé d’Affairs at the British Embassy, which was temporarily relocated from Kabul to Doha, met with high-ranking members of the Taliban, including Amir Khan Mottaki, Mullah Abdul Ghanem Baradar and Abdul Salam Hanafi.
It was the first British delegation to meet with Taliban leaders in Afghanistan since they took power in the country in mid-August and Western forces withdrew in late August.
As stated in a statement by the British Foreign Office, talks have been held on how the UK can help Afghanistan resolve the humanitarian crisis, how important it is for the country not to become a breeding ground for terrorism, and the need to ensure safe passage to Afghanistan. For those who wish to leave the country. (PAP)
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