Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A senior representative of a group opposed to the Taliban in Afghanistan expressed disappointment on Wednesday that a high-ranking Japanese Foreign Ministry official met with a delegation from the hard-line Islamist organization during a visit to Japan, local media  reports.

Abdullah Khenjani, head of the political office for the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, an armed group loyal to the previous government, told reporters in Vienna that he believes “the people of Afghanistan were disappointed” with the meeting in Tokyo, believed to be the Taliban’s first since its 2021 takeover of Afghanistan.

Khenjani, a former senior deputy minister for peace in the government overthrown by the Taliban, urged Japan not to “gamble” with its credibility and soft power potential in Afghanistan by banking on the “crumbling” Taliban regime.

ANDO Toshihide, head of the Foreign Ministry’s Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, on Tuesday held an “informal exchange of views” with the delegation, which included Deputy Economy Minister Latif Nazari, and called on the Taliban to “reflect the voice of the Afghan people” when governing.

The Taliban have limited women’s rights, banning girls from secondary and higher education and imposing restrictions on dress and employment opportunities.

The senior members of the Taliban regime, which Japan does not recognize as Afghanistan’s official government, arrived on Sunday at the invitation of Tokyo-based nonprofit organization the Nippon Foundation.

Khenjani said the arrangement through the Foundation was made to make it appear that the visit was not endorsed by the government, which, he added, has the authority to issue visas to Japan.

Khenjani and NRF head Ahmad Massoud, son of assassinated Afghan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, were in Vienna for a conference on democracy in Afghanistan attended by political groups and anti-Taliban organizations.