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US sees value in keeping Taliban embassy in Islamabad open
The United States has said it saw value in keeping the Taliban embassy in Islamabad open despite efforts to isolate the militia.
The United States has said it saw value in keeping the Taliban embassy in Islamabad open despite efforts to isolate the militia.
State department spokesman Richard Boucher on said the decision to close the embassy or not was entirely up to Pakistan, now the only country in the world to recognise the Taliban, but said it was useful to have such a contact point to check on the status of two American aid workers detained in Kabul. “We've seen the fact of a Taliban office in Islamabad as, perhaps, helpful, given the fact that Americans and other people are still being detained in Kabul,” Boucher said.
“There is some value in their having some kind of office in Islamabad, because that's one of the possible ways to communicate about our concerns about the detainees,” He said. But the activities of that office and their public appearances and what the threats that they're allowed to make in public in Pakistan, that's a matter for the Pakistani government that they should decide and apparently have decided.
Boucher referred to Pakistan's closure of the Taliban consulate in Karachi on Thursday and its order this week for the militia's ambassador in Islamabad to stop using press conferences as a platform for anti-US statements. Boucher declined to say whether Washington had pressed for the closure of the consulate and the silencing of ambassador but acknowledged that Taliban activity in Pakistan had been a subject of talks with leaders in Islamabad.
Bureau Report
State department spokesman Richard Boucher on said the decision to close the embassy or not was entirely up to Pakistan, now the only country in the world to recognise the Taliban, but said it was useful to have such a contact point to check on the status of two American aid workers detained in Kabul. “We've seen the fact of a Taliban office in Islamabad as, perhaps, helpful, given the fact that Americans and other people are still being detained in Kabul,” Boucher said.
“There is some value in their having some kind of office in Islamabad, because that's one of the possible ways to communicate about our concerns about the detainees,” He said. But the activities of that office and their public appearances and what the threats that they're allowed to make in public in Pakistan, that's a matter for the Pakistani government that they should decide and apparently have decided.
Boucher referred to Pakistan's closure of the Taliban consulate in Karachi on Thursday and its order this week for the militia's ambassador in Islamabad to stop using press conferences as a platform for anti-US statements. Boucher declined to say whether Washington had pressed for the closure of the consulate and the silencing of ambassador but acknowledged that Taliban activity in Pakistan had been a subject of talks with leaders in Islamabad.
Bureau Report