US officials meet with Taliban for first time since al Qaeda leader's death in Kabul

MADRID, 9 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Senior US government officials held their first in-person meeting this weekend with representatives of the Afghan Taliban fundamentalist movement since Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri was killed in late July in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in a targeted attack. from the United States, sources close to the meeting told CNN.

Al Zawahiri's death further cooled relations between the United States and the Taliban, the latter under sanction since they completed their reconquest of the country by force in August last year.

The meeting, according to CNN sources, was attended by the deputy director of the CIA, David Cohen, and the highest representative of the State Department on Afghanistan, Tom West. The meeting took place in Doha, the capital of Qatar and the seat of the Taliban's international political delegation, whose delegation included its intelligence chief, Abdul Haq Wasiq.

Since Al Zawahiri's death, the US has negotiated with the Taliban for the release of US citizen Mark Frerichs -- freed three weeks ago after two years in captivity -- but no face-to-face meeting had taken place until now.

The Taliban demand that the US immediately unfreeze billions of euros in funds abroad given the critical economic situation in the country. In exchange, Washington and its Western allies ask the fundamentalists to prevent the presence of terrorist organizations in the country and to hold a democratic process with space for minorities and the vulnerable population.