Khalilzad Calls Stanekzai's Remarks Criticising Taliban Leader ‘Hopeful Development’

Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy to Afghanistan, called the statements of Abbas Stanekzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister, about the group's violation of women's rights and opposition to the closure of schools and universities a "promising development".

At the graduation ceremony of students of a religious school in Khost, Stanekzai strongly criticised the decision of the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, saying that the ban on girls' education has no religious basis.

He called for the immediate reopening of schools and universities for girls, stressing that the ban on education is an injustice to 20 million people in Afghanistan.

Zalmay Khalilzad welcomed this stance and said that Stanekzai is one of the important Taliban officials who played a crucial role in the Doha talks.

He called on other Afghan religious scholars and Taliban leaders who privately oppose the ban on girls' education to make their opposition public.

The former US ambassador to Afghanistan also stressed that schools and universities should be reopened by the beginning of the solar year.

Khalilzad also welcomed the positions of Muslim scholars at the international conference in Islamabad. At the conference, titled "Educating Girls in Muslim Societies: Challenges and Opportunities" on January 11-12, scholars from the Muslim world called the ban on women's education contrary to Islamic teachings.

At the conference, Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al-Issa, president of the Muslim Scholars Association, said, "Islam abhors depriving women of education, whether fully or partially, for a certain age, a certain stage or a particular discipline."