The staff handed over the keys to the embassy to Mr. Mohammad Sadiq, a local staff member, and all embassy staff, including diplomats and local staff, permanently left the Afghan diplomatic mission in Moscow.
Author: Kave Ahangar
Special report on
the transfer of the Afghan
embassy in Moscow to the Taliban*
Photo: The flag of the republic still flies over the front door of the Afghan embassy in Moscow.
The Taliban have been trying to seize control of the Afghan embassies ever since the group came to power. Although most Afghan embassies abroad are still not under the control of the Taliban, the Taliban have succeeded, at least in a limited number of cases. Pakistan was one of the first countries to host a Taliban representative at the Afghan embassy in Islamabad. It is clear that Qatar, as the patron saint of the Taliban, provided the group with an Afghan embassy. But none of these successes have pleased the Taliban more than the handover of the Afghan embassy in Moscow.
In Afghanistan, Russia has always been seen as a country opposed to religious fundamentalism and terrorism, and the Taliban have both. On the other hand, the Taliban's interest in supporting extremist groups in Central Asia, which Russia views as a matter of national security, was another factor that Russians believe will never be compromised by the Taliban terrorist group. But over the years, their relationship has warmed and they have become close to such an extent that the Taliban has become a friend or ally of Russia in the region.
The question of how Moscow got closer to the Taliban (no doubt Pakistani diplomacy played a key role in this) is one that Aria Press will be looking into in the near future.
CHINA SUMMIT AND LAVROV'S STATEMENT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors in China that Russia is ready to accept the Taliban diplomat as Afghanistan's official representative in Moscow. However, this news did not come as a surprise, as Russia has had close ties to the Taliban for several years, to the extent that social media activists in Afghanistan are calling Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s special representative for Afghanistan, “Zalmay Khalilzad II” for his support of the Taliban. . However, no one expected the Russian government to accept a Taliban representative as a diplomat in Moscow when the Taliban is still a banned terrorist group under Russian law.
A source at the Afghan embassy in Moscow, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AriaPress how the Afghan embassy was handed over to the Taliban.
Photo: Garhwal's letter of appointment as Second Secretary of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow.
In February 2022, Jamal Nasser Garhwal was appointed by the Taliban Foreign Ministry as the Second Secretary of the Embassy. Dr. Seyyed Tayeb Javad, the Afghan ambassador to Moscow, opposed Garhwal's appointment and did not introduce him as an Afghan diplomat to the Russian Foreign Ministry, so the Russian Foreign Ministry did not issue a diplomatic card to Garhwal and did not recognize him as a diplomat.
But recently, the Russian Foreign Ministry, in violation of all administrative and diplomatic principles, issued a diplomatic card to Jamal Nasser Garhwal, giving him a three-year visa. It was at this time that pressure increased from the Russian Foreign Ministry to transfer the Afghan embassy to the Taliban on the Afghan ambassador.
When the Afghan ambassador feels that the Russians are interested in handing over the Afghan embassy to the Taliban, he asks for a meeting with representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry. On April 4, 2022, the Ambassador of Afghanistan will meet with Deputy of Zamir Kabulov, Albert Pavlovich Khorev, and a number of members of the Kabul team. During the meeting, the Afghan ambassador reminded the Russians that if they want to hand over the embassy to the Taliban, the ambassador is ready to hand over the embassy to the Russian Foreign Ministry so they can hand it over to the Taliban. The Russian Foreign Ministry did not agree with the request of the Afghan ambassador and insisted that the ambassador personally hand over the embassy to Taliban representative Jamal Nasser Garhwal. Mr. Seyyed Tayeb Javad does not accept this request of the Russian Foreign Ministry and resists it.
Finally, a decision will be made that the embassy staff will continue to work until the end of April without any problems so that the fate of the embassy can be decided during this period. But a day after the meeting, on Tuesday, April 5, a letter from the Russian Foreign Ministry was sent to the Afghan embassy, stating that the ambassador and the embassy staff should hand over the embassy to the Taliban representative only before the end of the week (in three days).
After receiving a letter from the Russian Foreign Ministry to the Afghan embassy, which looked like an ultimatum, the embassy staff began to draw up embassy documents. After collecting and processing documents, the embassy staff handed over the keys to the embassy to Mr. Mohammad Siddiq, a local employee, and all embassy staff, including diplomats and local staff, left the Afghan diplomatic mission in Moscow forever.
On Saturday, April 9, the newly appointed head of the embassy arrives at the embassy with a group of Afghans living in Moscow, all of whom are supporters of the Taliban movement. At first, the embassy guards prevent them from entering, but after a verbal altercation, they finally open the embassy gates to Garhwal and his companions.
Thus, the Russian Foreign Ministry surrenders the Afghan embassy to the Taliban through intimidation and the use of force contrary to all generally accepted principles and diplomatic values.
Source: ariapress.org
*The organization is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.
