The AP Interview: Taliban Seek Ties with US, Other Ex-Foes

Associated PressPublished: December 13, 2021

FILE PHOTO: HERAT, AFGHANISTAN - NOVEMBER 4: Surrendering Taliban militants stand with their weapons as they are presented to the media on November 4, 2010 in Herat, Afghanistan. Twenty Taliban fighters from Afghanistan's Herat province have surrendered to government troops in Herat, west of the capital city of Kabul. After an amnesty launched by President Hamid Karzai in November 2004, hundreds of anti-government Taliban militants have since surrendered to the government. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A top Taliban leader says Afghanistan's new rulers are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women and have learned lessons from their previous time in power.

Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told The Associated Press in a rare interview on Sunday that the Taliban are appealing to the world's "mercy and compassion" to help millions of Afghans in desperate need.

Muttaqi says that having a weak Afghan government "is not in the interest of anyone."

The minister acknowledged the world's dismay at limitations on girls' education and on women in the work force. He says the Taliban are working to improve the situation.