Outgoing Health Minister Kuipers regretted having his photo taken with a representative of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. This incident took place at the World Health Organization meeting in The Hague last week.
Kuipers is photographed here with Abdul Bari Omar, head of the Afghan Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority and a senior Taliban representative. Omar posted the photo on X last week and yesterday the photo went viral on social media.
“I didn’t know who this person was at that moment,” Kuipers wrote. “We are investigating how this person was present at this conference.”
Germany is angry
Abdul Bari Omar was also in Germany this week and gave a speech introducing the Taliban at a mosque in Cologne on Thursday. According to German public broadcaster WDR, about seventy people were there. The mosque association is shocked by Ömer’s arrival. The meeting was reportedly announced as a religious event, not a political meeting.
The German Foreign Ministry was outraged by the Taliban official’s arrival. “We condemn his behavior in the strongest possible terms,” the statement said. According to the ministry, a visa was not issued. “The trip was not announced to us. “As long as the Taliban in Afghanistan continues to violate human rights, especially the rights of women and girls, we will not be able to maintain normal relations with the Taliban regime.”
Two years ago, the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Since then, human rights in the country have deteriorated further. Women and girls are no longer welcome in secondary and higher education, and female nurses are no longer allowed to work.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
