The United Nations Security Council has extended the exemption to the travel ban on senior members of the Islamic Emirate, including First Deputy Prime Minister Baradar, for a 90-day period beginning on December 22, 2021, and ending on March 21, 2022, the UNSC said in a statement.
The exemption of travel bands includes other senior members of the Taliban as well.
“The UN Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) decided on 22 December 2021 to extend the exemption to the travel ban imposed by paragraph 1 (b) of resolution 2255 (2015) for Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Ahmad Turk (TAi.024), Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai Padshah Khan (TAi.067), Zia-Ur-Rahman Madani (TAi.102), Abdul Salam Hanafi Ali Mardan Qul (TAi.027), Shahabuddin Delawar (TAi.113), Abdul Latif Mansur (TAi.007), Amir Khan Motaqi (TAi.026), Abdul-Haq Wassiq (TAi.082), Khairullah Khairkhwah (TAi.093), Nurullah Nuri (TAi.089), Fazl Mohammad Mazloom (TAi.023), Abdul Kabir Mohammad Jan (TAi.003), Din Mohammad Hanif (TAi.043) and Noor Mohammad Saqib (TAi.110), for a 90-day period beginning on 22 December 2021 and ending on 21 March 2022,” the UNSC said in a statement.
“The travel ban exemption is solely for travels required for participation in peace and stability discussions in a range of countries,” the statement added. “Individual itineraries will depend on the location of peace discussions. The Committee has also decided to grant a limited asset freeze exemption only for financing exempted travels.”
Political analysts said that the “Taliban” should take advantage of such opportunities to engage in negotiations with the world.
“The world wants to engage with the Taliban. This will take some time and I think it is a great opportunity for the Taliban to take advantage of the opportunity and talk with the world and build Afghanistan,” said Javid Sangdel, an international relations analyst.
“These sanctions have been removed for a temporary period of time to pave the way for the Taliban leaders to travel and to negotiate for the formation of an inclusive government with the Afghan sides,” said Toreq Farhadi, a political analyst.
The Islamic Emirate praised the decision and called for the removal of its leaders’ names from the UN and US blacklists.
“It is necessary to remove the names of the officials of the Islamic Emirate from the US and UN blacklists based on the Doha agreement,” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
