Won't recognise Taliban as new govt but 'must deal with new realities': Britain

Kabul, Sep 03: Britain will not recognise Taliban as the new government in Kabul but must deal with the new realities in Afghanistan and does not want to see the social and economic fabric of the country.

"The approach we are taking is that we don''t recognise the Taliban as a government [...] but we do see the importance of being able to engage and have a direct line of communication, the reason being that there is a whole range of issues that need to be discussed including the question of safe passage of British nationals and the Afghans who worked for the UK government," he said.

Raab's remarks came in the backdrop of the regime preparing to unveil its government in Kabul.

Though he hoped that the Taliban would bring stability and an end to violence in the country, Raab said it was "premature" to talk about recognising the Taliban at the moment. He noted that the Taliban had made a series of undertakings, "some of them are positive at the level of words" but there was a need to test whether they translated into deeds, which would not be possible if some channel of dialogue was not present.

To a question on the expectations from the Taliban and the dangers of pushing them towards "radical tendencies", Raab said some early tests needed to be set on the Taliban promises and whether they had the sincerity and will to deliver on them.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on August 15. The last of the foreign troops left the country on August 31, bringing an end to 20 years of war amid fears of an economic collapse and widespread hunger.

The formation of a new Afghan government by the Taliban, which was to be announced on Friday, has now been delayed by a day, according to the spokesman of the insurgents Zabiullah Mujahid.

Mujahid said the announcement about the formation of the new government will now be made on Saturday.

More than two weeks after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the hardline Islamists are all set to announce the formation of a new government in Kabul on the lines of the Iranian leadership, with the group''s top religious leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada as Afghanistan''s supreme authority, a senior member of the group has said.

The Taliban has already appointed governors, police chiefs and police commanders for provinces and districts.

The name of the new governance system, the national flag and the national anthem are yet to be finalised.