Taliban ready to establish all-inclusive but not selective government: Suhail Shaheen

Doha [Qatar], October 9 (ANI): Taliban spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen on Saturday said that the group is ready to set up an inclusive but not selective government in Doha amid talks with the United States.

Shaheen said, "We are ready to establish an all-inclusive government but not a selective one," reported Khaama Press.

The delegations of the Taliban and the United States on Saturday held their first meeting in Qatar's capital Doha, in a bid to turn the "new page on their relationship".

This is the first in-person meeting between the two sides since the US drawdown from Afghanistan in mid-August.

Taliban delegation led by the acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Motaqi met with the US delegation in Doha and will continue talking on Sunday, October 10 as well.

They are discussing ways to evacuate Afghans among other political issues.

In response to the western pressures for an inclusive government in Afghanistan, Shaheen said that they have included ethnic minorities in their caretaker government and will soon add women in, reported Khaama Press.

The Taliban's interim cabinet is not only criticized by the international community but also by the people in Afghanistan as it does not include women and non-Taliban figures.

Moreover, Shaheen in an exclusive interview with Al-Jazeera said that the west must respect the wishes of the Afghan people. (ANI)