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Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Envoy: 'Russian leadership' decides to delist Taliban as terrorist group

by Ayaz Gul

ISLAMABAD --

Russia reported Friday that a "principal decision" had already been
made to remove Afghanistan's ruling Taliban from Moscow's list of
terrorist organizations.

Zamir Kabulov, the Russian presidential envoy for the South Asian
nation, was quoted by state-run TASS news agency as saying that the
foreign ministry and national security agencies "are putting finishing
legal touches" on the Taliban's delisting in line with federal laws.

"A principal decision on this has already been made by the Russian
leadership," said Kabulov. "Hopefully, the final decision will be
announced soon."

The remarks were reported on the same day that Moscow hosted a
conference of regional countries to discuss Afghanistan, with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov presiding over the proceedings.

Lavrov later held bilateral talks with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir
Khan Muttaqi, who led his delegation at Friday's multilateral event in
the Russian capital, organized under the Moscow Format platform.

"We firmly believe in the importance of maintaining a pragmatic
dialogue with the current Afghan government," Lavrov said in his
inaugural speech to delegates from countries such as China, India,
Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

"Moscow will continue to develop political, trade, and economic ties
with Kabul," Lavrov pledged.

Russia launched the Moscow Format in 2017 and it has since become a
regular platform for discussing challenges facing impoverished,
war-torn Afghanistan.

Muttaqi, in his broadcast address to Friday's gathering, welcomed
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan's recent announcements that they will remove
the Taliban from their lists of outlawed groups.

"We also appreciate the positive remarks [made] by the high-ranking
officials of the Russian Federation in this regard and hope to see more
effective steps soon," said the Taliban chief diplomat.

Russia's involvement in Afghanistan has been tumultuous. The Soviet
army entered the country in 1979 to help a pro-Moscow government in
Kabul but pulled out a decade later due to heavy losses inflicted by
U.S.-backed Afghan insurgents, or mujahideen.

Moscow has developed close informal ties with the Taliban since they
regained power in Afghanistan three years ago after the United States
and NATO forces withdrew ending 20 years of war.

President Vladimir Putin stated in July that Russia considered the
Taliban an ally in the fight against terrorism. The former Afghan
insurgent group has been on the Russian list of terrorist organizations
since 2003.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov praised the Taliban for combating
narcotics in Afghanistan and fighting a regional Islamic State
affiliate known as IS-Khorasan (IS-K).

"We support the Afghan authorities' resolve to combat the terrorist
threat," he told the conference Friday.

Muttaqi called on all regional countries "to cooperate in preventing
the recruitment of their citizens by ISIS and then send them to
Afghanistan and other countries to carry out subversive operations." He
used an acronym for IS-K, which the United Nations describes as the
most significant terrorist regional threat emanating from Afghan soil.

The Taliban foreign minister did not name any country, but Kabul
formally alleged last week that the terrorist group is orchestrating
attacks from bases in Pakistan, charges officials in Islamabad have
refuted as unfounded.

No country has officially recognized the de facto Taliban government,
although China and the United Arab Emirates have formally accepted
Taliban-appointed ambassadors.

Washington remains opposed to any step toward easing sanctions or
moving toward recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan's rightful
government, saying Kabul must improve its human rights record to win
international legitimacy and support.

"We will look for interest in any outcomes and deliverables from the
upcoming Moscow Format meeting, but we do not participate," Karen
Decker, the head of the Doha-based U.S. diplomatic mission for
Afghanistan, told reporters Thursday.

The U.S. has never attended a Moscow Format meeting because it is seen
as a regional conversation, said Decker, who has also been tasked with
overseeing Afghan diplomacy.

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