This month, after outlasting a superpower, the Taliban walked to control on a road paved with mass surrenders. Taliban leaders including Amir Khan Muttaqi, a former information minister, are in talks with one-time adversaries, like the former U.S.-backed president, Hamid Karzai, about the shape of a new government, the Taliban said. Mr. Mujahid offered no hint of what would emerge, saying “give us time.”But the involvement of Mr. Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, a former chief executive of the government, who are well known to world leaders, could give some legitimacy to any deal. Mr. Mujahid said the Taliban want friendly relations with the world, including the United States. “If the Taliban had wanted a one-sided government, they would have already declared an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan yesterday in the presidential palace,” said Maulvi Qalamuddin, a former Taliban minister who reconciled long ago with what is now the former U.S.-backed Afghan government.

Source: International New York Times August 17, 2021 23:03 UTC