Taliban have to understand that they can’t gain any form of international recognition if they are still officially linked to well-known and dangerous criminal and terrorist organizations, French ambassador has said.
In an exclusive interview with 1TV, Ambassador DavidMartinon said that according to the Doha agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the group has promised to renounce any cooperation with al-Qaeda, which is what the international community expects.
“We are entitled to see the Taliban breaking the link with al-Qaeda, otherwise, honestly I don’t see how we could keep on cooperating with Afghanistan in the future,” the diplomat said.
UN monitors in a report in June said that ties between the Taliban, especially its Haqqani Network branch, and al Qaeda remain close, despite a US-Taliban pact Washington hoped would sever them.
On drug, Ambassador Martinon said that the Taliban has been making a lot of profit out of poppy cultivation and heroin trafficking.
“We will need them to commit to change their behavior and policies… now would be a good time for them to come to the conclusion that drug trafficking is not a promising market, a promising business. If they continue to do so, they have to expect the whole international community not to be able to deal with them because it is impossible for us,” Martinon said.
He said that NATO has sacrificed and invested a lot in Afghanistan, but its mission is not to stay in the country forever.
On corruption, the envoy said that “Afghan leaders have to understand that we are not blind. We see things happening.”
He said that the Afghan leaders have to make sure that there is progress in terms of fighting corruption.
