Emmanuel Macron talks about Afghanistan with Joe Biden, Vladimir Poutine and Mario Draghi – archyde

A few days after calling ” protect [la France] against significant irregular migratory flows ”, Emmanuel Macron insisted on the need for “Close cooperation” international conference on the crisis in Afghanistan by meeting, Thursday, August 19, in turn with his counterparts from the United States, Joe Biden, and from the Russian Federation, Vladimir Poutine, as well as with the head of the Italian government , Mario Draghi, according to the Elysee.

During his telephone interview, which took place in the evening with the American president, the French president “Underlined the absolute need to ensure coordination between allies, rapid and concrete on the ground, to allow the evacuation of [leurs] nationals, Afghan women and men who worked for the allies, as well as those who are threatened ”, according to the French presidency.

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MM. Biden and Macron “Agreed to strengthen their joint action in humanitarian, political and counterterrorism matters in the coming days, in particular within the framework of the G7”, according to the Elysee.

A little earlier, during his interview with Mr. Poutine, which lasted more than an hour and a half, Mr. Macron notably discussed the “Priority expectations of the Taliban” : “Fight against drugs and arms trafficking, break with international terrorist movements, respect for women’s rights …”

Previously, MM. Macron and Draghi also agreed on the “Need for close cooperation” within the European Union “In order to successfully evacuate the most threatened Europeans and Afghans, as well as to anticipate the consequences of the Afghan crisis”.

Since the start of the week, the French head of state has already held talks on Afghanistan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, while a G7 meeting is scheduled for next week.

• Taliban call for unity

For their part, the Taliban called for unity ahead of the Friday prayers, the first since they took power, asking imams to persuade the population not to leave Afghanistan, amid scenes of chaos, protests and violence.

Several protests have taken place in Afghanistan, including in Assadabad, Jalalabad and Khost, where Afghans used the nation’s independence celebrations in 1919 to express their anger at the Taliban takeover. . The situation in Kabul has been calmer, except at the airport, where 12 people have been killed since Sunday, according to officials from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Taliban.

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• Journalists and allies of US forces threatened

Since seizing Kabul on Sunday, the Taliban have tried to present a more moderate face, saying they want peace, that they will not take revenge on their former enemies and that they will respect the rights of the people. women under Islamic law.

The Taliban have, moreover, assured that they will respect the freedom of the press. However, they have intensified their search for people who have worked with American and NATO forces, says a confidential United Nations document, despite their promise not to seek revenge on their opponents.

The report, written by a group of risk assessment experts for the UN and consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), claims that the Taliban have “Priority lists” of individuals they wish to arrest. “They target the families of those who refuse to surrender, and prosecute and punish the families ‘according to Sharia'”Group director Christian Nellemann told AFP.

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Taliban looking for a journalist working for the international radio Deutsche Welle also shot dead a member of his family and seriously injured another in Afghanistan, the German radio said on Friday morning on its website. .

The identity of the journalist concerned, who is now based in Germany, has not been specified. Several other members of his family were able to flee in extremis as the Taliban went door to door to get their hands on him. According to Deutsche Welle, the Taliban raided the homes of at least three of its journalists.

AFP also posted a video in which a public broadcaster said she went to her office, where she was ordered to go home.

Afghan woman TV news anchor stopped from working. Shabnam Dawran, a news anchor with state channel RTA Pushto, has… https://t.co/TmsQd3dmwp

– AFP (@AFP News Agency)

• Thousands of people already evacuated

While NATO foreign ministers are due to meet by videoconference from 2 p.m., a representative of the organization told Reuters news agency that more than 18,000 people have been evacuated from Kabul since. Sunday.

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Le Monde with AFP and Reuters