Taliban Prepares To Announce New Government At Presidential Palace, US And European Union Still Monitor

Taliban illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/isafmedia)

JAKARTA - The Taliban are said to be preparing to announce their new government, as the country's economic condition requires quick action by the government after the successful capture of Kabul on August 15.

Taliban official Ahmadullah Muttaqi said on social media a ceremony was being prepared at the presidential palace in Kabul, while private broadcaster Tolo said an announcement of a new government was imminent.

"Ministry of Information and Culture has made arrangements for the upcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace. Announcement of the new government will be made in this ceremony," he wrote on Twitter.

The Islamist movement's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, is expected to have supreme power over the governing council, with a president under him, a senior Taliban official said, citing Reuters on Thursday. 2. The new government's legitimacy in the eyes of international donors and investors will be crucial to the Afghan economy , which is likely to collapse once the Taliban returns to power, analysts say.

The Taliban's supreme leader has three deputies, Mullah Mohammed Yaqoob, son of the movement's late founder Mullah Omar; Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Haqqani network and Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the group's founding members.

The Taliban have tried to put a more moderate face on the world since they removed the US-backed government and returned to power last month, pledging to protect human rights and refrain from retaliating against old foes.

However, the United States, European Union and others cast doubt on the guarantee, saying formal recognition of the new government and the economic aid that would flow from it depended on the Taliban's actions.

"We will not take their word for it, we will accept them for what they did," US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told a news conference on Wednesday.

"So they have a lot to prove based on their own track record. Now they also have a lot of advantages, if they can run Afghanistan, much, much differently than they did the last time they were in power."

Gunnar Wiegand, the European Commission's managing director for Asia and the Pacific, said the European Union would not formally recognize the Islamist group until it met conditions, including the formation of an inclusive government, respect for human rights and unrestricted access for aid workers. Read more

"There is no doubt among the member states (EU) and in the context of the G7, we need to engage with the Taliban, we need to communicate with the Taliban, we need to influence the Taliban, we need to leverage the influence we have. But, we will not rush to recognize this new formation, or establish official relations," he told members of the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.