Qatar calls Taliban moves on girls education very disappointing

Qatar’s top diplomat says the Taliban’s moves on girls education in Afghanistan are very disappointing and is a step backwards. He called on the group’s leadership to look to Doha for how to run an Islamic system.

Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was referring to the Taliban’s refusal to allow Afghan female secondary school students to resume their studies, weeks after the group took power.

“The recent actions that we have seen unfortunately in Afghanistan, it has been very disappointing to see some steps being taken backwards.

“We need to keep engaging them and urging them not to take such actions, and we have also been trying to demonstrate for the Taliban how Muslim countries can conduct their laws, how they can deal with the women’s issues.

“One of the examples is the State of Qatar, which is a Muslim country, our system is an Islamic system but we have women outnumbering men in workforces, in government and in higher education,” said Sheikh Mohammed.

Doha has become a key broker in Afghanistan following last month’s withdrawal of US forces, helping to evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport.

The Taliban has been accused of human rights abuses in recent weeks, including publicly stringing up the bodies of four alleged kidnappers from cranes in Herat last week.

The display of the dead kidnapping suspects, who were killed in a shootout, was the most high-profile public punishment since the Taliban swept to power last month.

It has been seen as a sign the Taliban will adopt fearsome measures similar to their previous rule from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban follows an extremely strict interpretation of Islamic law that segregates men and women, and have also slashed women’s access to work.

Kamila/Al-Jazeera