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  1. #151
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    How much Afghan government cash are they withholding again? $4-5 bn springs to mind. I suppose we'll soon enough know their long term intent according to what they do with that. For now, a certain amount of strategic ambiguity is understandable.

  2. #152
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    How much Afghan government cash are they withholding again? $4-5 bn springs to mind.
    For projects that have ground to a halt or been abandoned or destroyed by the Taliban.

    The US has also halted funding for the Afghan military - would you like that to be re-instated?

    Half of Afghanistan's funds are via aid and donations from abroad, half of the population depends on aid. This is NOT the usual US m.o. of destroying and buggering off - they helped build an infrastructure, left the place far better off than when they arrived - time for the Taliban to step up and take care of their country, the US isn't your scapegoat anymore

  3. #153
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    US freezes Afghan central bank’s assets of $9.5bn


    Any central bank assets that the Afghan government has in the US will not be available to the Taliban, the gov’t said.


    18 Aug 2021



    The U.S. has frozen nearly $9.5 billion in assets belonging to the Afghan central bank and stopped shipments of cash to the nation as it tries to keep a Taliban-led government from accessing the money, an administration official confirmed Tuesday.

    The official said that any central bank assets that the Afghan government has in the U.S. will not be available to the Taliban, which remains on the Treasury Department’s sanctions designation list.


    Ajmal Ahmady, acting head of Da Afghan Bank, the nation’s central bank, early Monday tweeted that he learned on Friday that shipments of dollars would stop as the U.S. tried to block any Taliban effort to gain access to the funds. DAB has $9.5 billion in assets, a sizeable portion of which is in accounts with the New York Federal Reserve and U.S.-based financial institutions.

    U.S. sanctions on the Taliban mean that they cannot access any funds. The vast majority of DAB’s assets are not currently held in Afghanistan, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    The U.S. Treasury Department declined to comment.

    US freezes Afghan central bank’s assets of $9.5bn | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera

  4. #154
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    They've poured at least a trillion into the place.

    If the talitubbies want it, they should ask the Dubai government.

  5. #155
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    they should ask the Dubai government
    I believe it's the NaGastani government and NaGastani banks hold the sanctioned funds.

  6. #156
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    I believe it's the NaGastani government and NaGastani banks hold the sanctioned funds.
    No surprises as to which fucking retard completely failed to understand the point.


  7. #157
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    Joint Statement of the Participants in the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan, Moscow, 20 October 2021

    2126-20-10-2021



    "

    1. On 20th October, 2021, the third meeting of the Moscow Format Consultations on Afghanistan was held with the participation of special representatives or senior officials from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as a high-level delegation of the interim Afghan government.
    2. The sides reiterated their respect to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan, and reaffirmed their commitment to Afghanistan as a peaceful, indivisible, independent, economically developing State, free of terrorism and drug-related crime and respecting the basic norms in the human rights area.
    3. It was stated that further practical engagement with Afghanistan needed to take into account the new reality, that is the Taliban coming to power in the country, irrespective of the official recognition of the new Afghan government by the international community.
    4. Participating countries call on the current Afghan leadership to take further steps to improve governance and to form a truly inclusive government that adequately reflects the interests of all major ethno-political forces in the country. This will be a fundamental prerequisite for the completion of the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
    5. Participating countries call on the current Afghan leadership to practice moderate and sound internal and external policies, adopt friendly policies towards neighbors of Afghanistan, achieve the shared goals of durable peace, security, safety, and long-term prosperity, and respect the rights of ethnic groups, women and children.
    6. Being concerned about the activities of proscribed terrorist organizations in Afghanistan, the sides reaffirmed their willingness to continue to promote security in Afghanistan to contribute to regional stability.
    7. The participating countries were pleased to note the reaffirmation by the interim Afghan government of its previous commitments to prevent use of the Afghan territory against its neighbours, other States in the region and the rest of the world.
    8. Expressing deep concern over the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the sides expressed confidence in the need for the international community to mobilize consolidated efforts to provide urgent humanitarian and economic assistance to the Afghan people in the post-conflict reconstruction of the country.
    9. In this context, the sides have proposed to launch a collective initiative to convene a broad-based international donor conference under the auspices of the United Nations as soon as possible, certainly with the understanding that the core burden of post-conflict economic and financial reconstruction and development of Afghanistan must be shouldered by troop-based actors which were in the country for the past 20 years."


    https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy...ent/id/4913908
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  8. #158
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    ‘Moscow format’ talks highlight China-Russia coordination on Afghan issue, conspicuous US absence

    By

    Liu Caiyu

    Published: Oct 20, 2021 10:00 PM

    "The "Moscow format" talks on Wednesday highlighted the prominent role of China-Russia coordination on the Afghan crisis when the US and some Western countries chose to evade responsibility, experts said, as Moscow gathered 10 countries and the Taliban to focus on the developing political and military situation in Afghanistan.

    Participants at the meeting proposed to convene the UN-led donor conference to help rebuild the country. It should take place “certainly with the understanding that the core burden... must be shouldered by troop-based actors who were in the country for the past 20 years.” It refers to the US and its allies who invaded Afghanistan.

    Russia's Foreign Ministry said the political and military situation of Afghanistan will be the focus of this meeting in Moscow. The agenda also includes the establishment of an inclusive government and efforts for a global response to prevent a humanitarian crisis.

    It has been a diplomatic tradition of Russia to lead a multilateral mechanism that involves regional and relevant parties to coordinate and cope with crises. And gathering Afghanistan's neighbouring countries to this meeting is beneficial to address their concerns, build consensus and help Afghanistan seek a way out in the future, Wang Jin, an associate professor at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies of Northwest University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

    According to Anadolu Agency, the "Moscow format" was a mechanism established in 2017 for the Afghanistan issue, and it includes China, Pakistan, Iran, India, and Afghanistan. Experts believe this platform shed lights on the prominent role of China-Russia coordination and cooperation on the Afghan crisis.

    China and Russia are involved in many multilateral mechanisms to address Afghanistan's concerns and establish cooperation, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which focuses on security issues.

    China-Russia coordination in Afghanistan could be comprehensive, ranging from humanitarian aid, the recognition of the new government, refugee issues and how to manage terrorism and share intelligence, not like some Western countries that offer help only when their political preconditions are met, Wang noted.

    A day before the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday after talks with Chinese and Pakistani officials that the three countries are willing to provide humanitarian aid and economic support to Afghanistan.

    Just one day after the Afghan Taliban announced a new interim government, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced in early September that China will provide Afghanistan with 200 million yuan ($31 million) worth of grain, winter supplies, vaccines and other medicine in line with the needs of the Afghan people.

    Media reported that the US, though invited, is not attending. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow regrets the absence of US officials from international talks.

    Wang said the US' absence reflects its escapist psychology of being irresponsible on Afghan issues.

    As a prime culprit of the Afghan crisis, the US should shoulder major responsibility on contributing humanitarian aid to the country, where all kinds of aid were in urgent need as winter approaches. But the US requested the Afghan Taliban to meet certain requirements in regard to the political system, religious policy, and policies on women's and children's rights, before they provide aid to the war-torn nation, Wang noted.

    Another reason why the US dodged this Russia-led meeting is that the US is fettered by its own "principles" on the Afghan issue, that it rejects the legitimacy of the Taliban but still hopes to engage in dialogue with the group. The two only engaged in the Doha dialogue mechanism, but refrained from conducting dialogue in other mechanisms, said Wang."

    ‘Moscow format’ talks highlight China-Russia coordination on Afghan issue, conspicuous US absence - Global Times

  9. #159
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    Oh dear looks like the chinkies and russians are upset with the seppos again.

    Fucking hard luck I say.


  10. #160
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    are dissapointed with the seppos again
    FIFY.

  11. #161
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    I'm a fuckwit
    FIFY



  12. #162
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    They've poured at least a trillion into the place.
    Wasted more like, and all the while the Paki cvnts were sat harbouring the terrorists, they picked the wrong country imo

  13. #163
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    Well what is the US taxpayer actually for, if not to bail out Banks and finance disastrous foreign military interventions. Do you feel abused?

  14. #164
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    Taliban beheaded female volleyball player, posted photos online, coach says

    An Afghan volleyball player on the girls’ national team was beheaded by the Taliban — with gruesome photos of her severed head posted on social media, according to her coach.


    Mahjabin Hakimi, one of the best players in the Kabul Municipality Volleyball Club, was slaughtered in the capital city of Kabul as troops searched for female sports players, her coach told the Persian Independent.

    She was killed earlier this month, but her death remained mostly hidden because her family had been threatened not to talk, claimed the coach, using a pseudonym, Suraya Afzali, due to safety fears.


    Images of Hakimi’s severed neck were published on Afghan social media, according to the paper, which did not say how old she was.

    Conflicting reports online suggested that happened earlier, with an apparent death certificate suggesting she was killed Aug. 13 — the final days of the Taliban’s insurgency before seizing Kabul.


    However, the Payk Investigative Journalism Center said its sources also confirmed that Hakimi “was ‘beheaded’ by the Taliban in Kabul.” The governing group has yet to comment, Payk Media said.


    Afzali told the Persian Independent that she was speaking out to highlight the risk that female sports players face, with only two of the women’s national volleyball team having managed to flee the country.


    “All the players of the volleyball team and the rest of the women athletes are in a bad situation and in despair and fear,” she told the paper. “Everyone has been forced to flee and live in unknown places.”


    One of the players who escaped, Zahra Fayazi, told the BBC last month that at least one of the players had been killed.

    “We don’t want this to repeat for our other players,” she told the broadcaster from her new home in the UK.


    “Many of our players who are from provinces were threatened many times by their relatives who are Taliban and Taliban followers.

    “The Taliban asked our players’ families to not allow their girls to do sport, otherwise they will be faced with unexpected violence,” Fayazi said.


    “They even burned their sports equipment to save themselves and their families. They didn’t want them to keep anything related to sport. They are scared,” she said.

    Another teammate who escaped told the BBC everyone was “shocked” when they heard that one of their team had been killed.


    “I’m sure it was the Taliban,” said Sophia, a pseudonym to protect her family members still in Afghanistan. “Maybe we will lose other friends,” she said.

    Taliban beheaded Afghanistan volleyball player: coach

  15. #165
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    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    her family had been threatened not to talk
    Lovely people


    I believe the Taliban announced yesterday that women are allowed to play sports . . . they will be killed for it, but it isn't forbidden

  16. #166
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    Quote Originally Posted by sabang View Post
    Well what is the US taxpayer actually for
    Some nice Dubai villas and condos, and some excellent savings account in said Emirate.

    Next?

  17. #167
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    Quote Originally Posted by panama hat View Post
    Lovely people


    I believe the Taliban announced yesterday that women are allowed to play sports . . . they will be killed for it, but it isn't forbidden
    But our resident snivellers cheered the exit of the Americans. I think the retarded one even joked that the talitubbies would never even so much as throw acid in a girls face.

    And here we are.

  18. #168
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    resident snivellers cheered the exit of the Americans.
    I was snivelling when they were there, and applaud their exit.

  19. #169
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    From Russia, With (Taliban) Love

    Asia's powerbrokers dropped an Afghan bombshell in Moscow today: 'the country's reconstruction must be paid for by its military occupiers of 20 years.'

    By Pepe Escobar

    October 21 2021

    "Facing high expectations, a five-man band Taliban finally played in Moscow. Yet the star of the show, predictably, was the Mick Jagger of geopolitics: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Right from the start, Lavrov



    for the Moscow format consultations, which boast the merit of “uniting Afghanistan with all neighboring countries.” Without skipping a beat, he addressed the US elephant in the room – or lack thereof: “Our American colleagues chose not to participate,” actually “for the second time, evading an extended troika-format meeting.”

    Washington invoked hazy “logistical reasons” for its absence.

    The troika, which used to meet in Doha, consists of Russia, the US, China and Pakistan. The extended troika in Moscow this week featured Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and all five Central Asian ‘stans.’ That, in essence, made it a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, at the highest level.

    Lavrov’s presentation essentially expanded on the themes highlighted by the recent SCO Dushanbe Declaration: Afghanistan should be an “independent, neutral, united, democratic and peaceful state, free of terrorism, war and drugs,” and bearing an inclusive government “with representatives from all ethnic, religious and political groups.”

    The joint statement issued after the meeting may not have been exactly a thriller. But then, right at the end, paragraph 9 offers the real bombshell:

    “The sides have proposed to launch a collective initiative to convene a broad-based international donor conference under the auspices of the United Nations as soon as possible, certainly with the understanding that the core burden of post-conflict economic and financial reconstruction and development of Afghanistan must be shouldered by troop-based actors which were in the country for the past 20 years.”

    The West will argue that a donor conference of sorts already happened: that was the G-20 special summit via videoconference earlier in October, which included UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Then, last week, much was made of a European promise of 1 billion euros in humanitarian aid, which, as it stands, remains extremely vague, with no concrete details.

    At the G-20, European diplomats admitted, behind closed doors, that the main rift was between the West “wanting to tell the Taliban how to run their country and how to treat women” as necessary conditions in exchange for some help, compared to Russia and China following their non-interference foreign policy mandates.

    Afghanistan’s neighbors, Iran and Pakistan, were not invited to the G-20, and that’s nonsensical. It’s an open question whether the official G-20 in Rome, on 30-31 October, will also address Afghanistan along with the main themes: climate change, Covid-19, and a still elusive global economic recovery.

    No US in Central Asia


    So the Moscow format, as Lavrov duly stressed, remains the go-to forum when it comes to addressing Afghanistan’s serious challenges.

    Now we come to the crunch. The notion that the economic and financial reconstruction of Afghanistan should be conducted mainly by the former imperial occupier and its NATO minions – quaintly referred to as “troop-based actors” – is a non-starter.

    The US does not do nation-building – as the entire Global South knows by experience. Even to unblock the nearly $10 billion of the Afghan Central Bank confiscated by Washington will be a hard slog. The IMF predicted that without foreign help the Afghan economy may shrink by 30 percent.

    The Taliban, led by second Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi, tried to put on

    .

    Hanafi argued that the current interim government is already inclusive: after all, over 500,000 employees of the former administration have kept their jobs.

    But once again, much precious detail was lost in translation, and the Taliban lacked a frontline figure
    capable of capturing the Eurasian imagination. The mystery persists: where is Mullah Baradar?
    Baradar, who led the political office in Doha, was widely tipped to be the face of the Taliban to the outside world after the group’s takeover of Kabul on 15 August. He has been effectively sidelined.
    The background to the Moscow format, though, offers a few nuggets. There were no leaks – but diplomats hinted it was tense. Russia had to play careful mediator, especially when it came to addressing grievances by India and concerns by Tajikistan.

    Everyone knew that Russia – and all the other players – would not recognize the Taliban as the new Afghan government, at least not yet. That’s not the point. The priority once again had to be impressed on the Taliban leadership: no safe haven for any jihadi outfits that may attack “third countries, especially the neighbors,” as Lavrov stressed.

    When President Putin casually drops the information, on the record, that there are at least 2,000 ISIS-K jihadis in northern Afghanistan, this means Russian intel knows exactly where they are, and has the capabilities to snuff them, should the Taliban signal help is needed.

    Now compare it with NATO – fresh from its massive Afghan humiliation – holding a summit of defense ministers in Brussels this Thursday and Friday to basically lecture the Taliban. NATO’s secretary-general, the spectacularly mediocre Jens Stoltenberg, insists that “the Taliban are accountable to NATO” over addressing terrorism and human rights.

    As if this was not inconsequential enough, what really matters – as background to the Moscow format – is how the Russians flatly refused a US request to deploy their intel apparatus somewhere in Central Asia, in theory, to monitor Afghanistan.

    First they wanted a “temporary” military base in Uzbekistan or Tajikistan: Putin–Biden actually discussed it at the Geneva summit. Putin counter-offered, half in jest, to host the Americans in a Russian base, probably in Tajikistan. Moscow gleefully played along for a few weeks just to reach an immovable conclusion: there’s no place for any US “counter-terrorism” shenanigans in Central Asia.

    To sum it all up, Lavrov in Moscow was extremely conciliatory. He stressed how the Moscow format participants plan to use all opportunities for “including” the Taliban via several multilateral bodies, such as the UN, the SCO – where Afghanistan is an observer nation – and crucially, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is a military alliance.

    So many layers of ‘inclusiveness’ beckon. Humanitarian help from SCO nations like Pakistan, Russia and China is on its way.

    The last thing the Taliban need is to be ‘accountable’ to brain-dead NATO."


    From Russia, With (Taliban) Love

  20. #170
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    the Mick Jagger of geopolitics: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
    I think he's more the Tony Clifton of geopolitics.


  21. #171
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Mick Jagger of geopolitics: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
    OhWoe's on a man-crush since Klongdick went back to Moscow for re-programming . . . or getting a refresher course in Traitor101

  22. #172
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    India searching for Rogue elements in Taliban to destabilize China

    Washington DC: Indian establishment is searching for Rogue elements in Taliban government with aim to destabilize Muslim populated areas in China.


    According to reliable sources tensions between China and India has reached to an extent where India is busy to partner up with those elements in new Taliban leadership in Afghanistan who can help creating security problems inside China thus destabilizing Chinese economy and raising the oppressed chinese political Islamic movements.


    China on other hand, who has been supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2004, are readjusting it’s Pro Taliban strategy because just like many others they did not expected the Taliban to take over Afghanistan so soon. The Wakhan Corridor has suddenly gained great importance for India.


    China on the other hand is aware of the potential problems which can be created through this corridor and has further increased the security in the area. It is pertinent to mention here that China declined former Afghan President, Hamid Karzai’s request on several occasions to allow Wakhan Corridor for trade activities.


    It is also pertinent to mention here that Communist Party adheres to its core principle that its member must not belong to any religious faith, which gives Taliban more treasons to believe that Muslims are not being treated fair in China.


    The look alike of Taliban are being breaded in India to assist those Rogue elements and achieve desired results.

    India searching for Rogue elements in Taliban to destabilize China - The Frontier Post2

  23. #173
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    In fairness that is a digital Pakistani rag. They'll probably be splattered with cricket pictures tomorrow after they thrashed India.


  24. #174
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    Do watch it, interesting . . .



  25. #175
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    The Islamic State has China on its hit list


    Definitely. The pertinent question is though- are we (the US/ west) going to be allies of ISIS & ETIM, or enemies? That is what I am waiting to find out.

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