Afghanistan's president Ashraf Ghani is currently in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after fleeing the Taliban's takeover of his nation.
The Gulf state's foreign minister said: "The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation can confirm that the UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds."
Since the fall of Kabul to insurgents, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and peace council chief Abdullah Abdullah, have been negotiating with the Taliban.
Taliban officials have met with a Qatari foreign minister too, with the political future of the country hangs in the balance. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior Taliban official, met with Qatar’s foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Tuesday.
People gathered outside the airport react to gunfire, in Kabul, Afghanistan August 18, 2021 in this still image taken from video.
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A statement said the two “reviewed the latest security and political developments in Afghanistan, stressing the need for the protection of civilians, intensifying necessary efforts to achieve national reconciliation, working for a comprehensive political settlement and a peaceful transfer of power”.
Vice president Amrullah Saleh claimed he is the country's "legitimate" caretaker president and cited the Afghan constitution was empowering him to declare this.
Downing Street has insisted that the Taliban will be judged on its actions not its words after the head of the British armed forces suggested the militants may have “changed” in the last 20 years.
Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter said on Wednesday that the world needs to be patient and “hold its nerve” to see what the future will look like in Afghanistan under a Taliban-led government.
Spanish citizens residing in Afghanistan and Afghans board a military plane as part of their evacuation, at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 18, 2021.
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Downing Street would not be drawn on whether the UK would recognise any government formed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said any decision would need a “unified approach” internationally. “We’ll have to see what unfolds,” he said.
But Chief of the Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter told the Today programme: “It may well be that they have learned from the last 20 years in the same way that we have learned from the last 20 years.
“It may be that they believe the civil society that has been created in Afghanistan over the last 20 years should be given a chance to carry on but under their terms to one degree or another, but I think we need to be patient and we need to hold our nerve and let’s see what happens.”
