The United Nations Security Council has announced an easing of restrictions to enable Taliban figures to travel outside Afghanistan for peace talks.
The Security Council on December 17 renewed its sanctions regime against the Afghan Taliban.
But the resolution also invited “the government of Afghanistan, in close coordination" with the Afghan High Peace Council, to submit for consideration the names of blacklisted individuals whose presence is “necessary” at meetings outside Afghanistan in support of peace and reconciliation.
There are 132 individuals and four entities on the Security Council’s sanctions list.
The Security Council move came as reports said officials from the Afghan government, representatives of the Taliban, and other factions were expected to meet this week near the French capital, Paris, for talks on Afghanistan’s future.
The Taliban, which was ousted from Kabul after Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network perpetrated the 9/11 attacks against the United States, has continued its armed insurgency against Afghanistan's central government.
The Security Council on December 17 renewed its sanctions regime against the Afghan Taliban.
But the resolution also invited “the government of Afghanistan, in close coordination" with the Afghan High Peace Council, to submit for consideration the names of blacklisted individuals whose presence is “necessary” at meetings outside Afghanistan in support of peace and reconciliation.
There are 132 individuals and four entities on the Security Council’s sanctions list.
The Security Council move came as reports said officials from the Afghan government, representatives of the Taliban, and other factions were expected to meet this week near the French capital, Paris, for talks on Afghanistan’s future.
The Taliban, which was ousted from Kabul after Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network perpetrated the 9/11 attacks against the United States, has continued its armed insurgency against Afghanistan's central government.
