The Taliban have pledged to rule as a “strong Islamic government” which will respect the rights of its citizens and which will have good relations with its neighbours and the international community.
The Afghan Islamic movement made the pledges in a press conference in Kabul today in front of the local and international media.
Here are the highlights of the press conference led by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid:
Amnesty for collaborators
“I would like to reassure all the compatriots, whether they were translators, whether they had military activities or whether they have been civilians, all of them have been pardoned. Nobody is going to be treated with revenge.
“The youths who have talents, who have grown up here – we do not want them to leave. These are our assets, we would like them to stay here to serve. We would like to assure you that no one is going to knock on their door to inspect them or to ask them or interrogate them as to who they have been working for or interpreting for. I would like to assure you that no harm is going to come, they are going to be safe.”
“Any Taliban soldiers who have carried out house-to-house inspections are abusers and will be chased and investigated, Mujahid said.
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“The Islamic Emirate – after the freedom of this nation – is not going to revenge anybody, we do not have any grudges against anybody. We know that we have been undergoing very challenging periods and crises, a lot of mistakes were made that were in the advantage of the occupiers. We want to make sure that Afghanistan is not the field of conflict, the battlefield of conflict, anymore.”
Independent media
The Taliban are committed to a “free and independent media”, Mujahid said. However, he said he had requests for the media including that “nothing should be against Islamic values when it comes to the activities of the media, therefore Islamic values should be taken into account when it comes to the activities of the media.”
He said the media “should not work against national values, against national unity.”
He said: “When it comes to ethnic differences, religious differences and hostilities, they should not be actually promoted by the media, they should work … for the unity of the nation to have peaceful, brotherly living together.”
Women’s rights
“The Islamic Emirate is committed to the rights of women within the framework of Shariah. Our sisters… have the same rights, will be able to benefit from their rights. They can have activities in different sectors and different areas on the basis of our rules and regulations, educational, health and other areas.
“They are going to be working with us, shoulder to shoulder with us, and the international community – if they have concerns – we would like to assure them that there is not going to be any discrimination against women, but of course within the frameworks that we have.”
The International Community
“I would like to assure the international community including the United States that nobody will be harmed in Afghanistan, I would like to assure our neighbours, regional countries, we are not going to allow our territory to be used against anybody, any country in the world.”
Mujahid said the Taliban should be “treated accordingly” by the international community.
“We do not want to have any problem with the international community,” he said. “We have the right to act on the basis of our religious principles and rules and regulations, this is the right of Afghans.”
