The Latest: Blinken says Taliban must ‘earn’ legitimacy

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is telling the Taliban that “any legitimacy, any support will have to be earned” after the group named an interim government.

Blinken spoke after he and his German counterpart on Wednesday hosted a virtual meeting of ministers from 22 countries as well as NATO and the European Union.

Blinken reiterated the cautious initial U.S. response to the Taliban’s naming Tuesday of an interim government line-up.

The new government stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition.

Blinken said that the government and the Taliban will be judged by their actions.

___

MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

— Taliban name caretaker Cabinet that pays homage to old guard

— US-built databases a potential tool of Taliban repression

— Blinken and Austin to visit Gulf to address postwar stresses

— Taliban say they took Panjshir, last holdout Afghan province

— Over 24 hours in Kabul, brutality, trauma, moments of grace

— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

___

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BERLIN — Germany’s foreign minister has responded skeptically to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government line-up for Afghanistan.

Heiko Maas released a statement Wednesday, a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government. The Cabinet is stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition. Germany was a major troop provider for that alliance.

Maas said his country is ready to provide humanitarian aid via the United Nations and will continue to speak to the Taliban to secure the departure from Afghanistan of former employees and others.

He added that any commitment beyond that will depend on the Taliban’s behavior.

Maas said: “The announcement of an interim government without the participation of other groups and yesterday’s violence against female demonstrators and journalists in Kabul are not signals that make us optimistic about that.”

___

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Norwegian ambassador to Iran says the Taliban have taken over the Norwegian Embassy in Kabul.

Ambassador Sigvald Hauge wrote on Twitter on Wednesday that the Taliban “say they will return it to us later” and added “but first wine bottles are to be smashed and children’s books destroyed.”

Norway vacated its diplomatic post in the Afghan capital with the help of fellow Scandinavian neighbor Denmark before the Taliban took over the city

___

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s foreign minister has urged the international community to help prevent a humanitarian and economic crisis in Afghanistan.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi was addressing a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan. It was attended by his counterparts from China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The meeting took place a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government for Afghanistan. In his televised remarks, Qureshi said that Pakistan had noted the development.

He added that since Kabul’s takeover by the Taliban, “much dreaded bloodshed has not occurred,” and the prospect of a protracted conflict and civil war seems to have been averted. Qureshi said that so far, a much-feared exodus of refugees has also not taken place.

The situation remains complex and fluid in Afghanistan however and it “requires discarding old lenses, developing new insights, and proceeding with a realistic and pragmatic approach.”

___

BERLIN — Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to meet at Ramstein U.S. Air Base for talks on Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The two foreign ministers are first set to talk bilaterally and later hold a virtual meeting with other foreign ministers, the German foreign ministry said in a statement.

Maas praised the close cooperation with the U.S. during the evacuation efforts of international and local Afghans from the country in recent weeks, and said that “in the next phase we want to continue to cooperate and coordinate, especially in regard of the new rulers in Kabul.”

Maas warned that a threefold humanities crisis was looming in Afghanistan due to hunger, the stop of aid from international relief groups, and the volatile political situation with the new Taliban regime in Kabul.

Ramstein has become a turnstile for the evacuation for people from Afghanistan with around 34,000 flown for layovers to the U.S. base. Some 22,000 evacuees have already left the base for the United States or other locations.

Germany has relocated more than 4,000 people from Afghanistan so far.

___

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan is hosting a virtual meeting of foreign ministers from countries neighboring Afghanistan to discuss the situation there.

A foreign ministry statement said Wednesday’s meeting will be attended by China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will preside over the meeting, which aims “to work together for the shared objective of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, which is essential to forge strong economic links.”

The development comes a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government for Afghanistan, stacked with veterans from their hard-line rule in the 1990s and the 20-year battle against the U.S.-led coalition.

So far Pakistan has not commented on the formation of the interim government.

___