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Saudi crown prince tells Biden US made ‘mistake’ in Afghanistan: Saudi official
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pointed to American abuse in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan as he told President Joe Biden Friday that the US made “mistakes” too.
This was in response to Biden’s comments to MBS – as the crown prince is called – on the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
“The United States also made a number of mistakes like the incident of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and others,” the crown prince told Biden, a Saudi official told Reuters.
In the early part of the Iraq War, detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison were tortured by U.S. forces, with 11 Americans convicted of crimes related to the scandal.
While MBS reportedly spoke to Biden about shared values – he also said pushing those values on other countries could backfire.
“However trying to impose those values by force could have the opposite effect as it happened in Iraq and Afghanistan where the U.S. was unsuccessful,” the statement from the Saudi official to Reuters said.
Biden oversaw a chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan, after a 20-year military involvement.
After his meeting with MBS, Biden told reporters that he brought up Khashoggi’s killing first thing.
“In respect to the murder of Khashoggi, I raised it at the top of the meeting, making it clear what I thought of it at the time, and what I think of it now,” Biden said.
“I was straightforward and direct … I made my view crystal clear,” he said.
Biden did not mention that MBS brought up the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as a Saudi official claimed.
During Biden’s remarks to MBS and other Arab leaders Saturday, the president conceded the US hasn’t had a perfect track record.
“No country gets it right all the time – even most of the time – including the United States,” Biden said.
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Torkham remains closed after Pakistan-Afghanistan talks fail
The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.
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The Torkham border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan remained closed on Tuesday after four days of negotiations between officials from the two countries failed to yield results.
Torkham commissioner Abdul Jabbar Hikmat reported that discussions held Monday were chaired by the deputy governor of Nangarhar but ended without any agreement.
The Pakistani authorities have requested that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) refrain from constructing new facilities along the Durand Line.
According to Bakhtar news agency, Pakistan also said Afghanistan should not obstruct Pakistan’s own development projects in the area.
Hikmat confirmed that this request was rejected by the Afghan side, which resulted in Pakistan maintaining its closure of the Torkham gate.
The ongoing closure has left thousands of travelers, including medical patients and commercial convoys stranded on both sides of the border.
Torkham is a key crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, especially for trucks. Closures of this border crossing result in huge losses for traders as many rely on this route to move fresh produce between the two countries.
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IEA confirms arrest of UK couple and a Chinese-American in Afghanistan
Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the detention of the two British nationals adding that the government was supporting their family.
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Afghanistan’s ministry of interior’s spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, confirmed Monday night that the Islamic Emirate has detained two Brits, a Chinese-American, and their Afghan translator.
Qani told AFP that “efforts are underway to resolve this issue”.
The two Brits, Peter and Barbie Reynolds, are both in their 70s and were detained in Bamiyan province.
According to their daughter, the couple has lived in Afghanistan for 18 years and stayed on after the IEA regained control.
“Based on certain considerations, the authorities have detained four people: two British citizens holding Afghan papers, one person with Chinese and American nationality and their translator,” Qani told AFP.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Office confirmed the detention of the two British nationals adding that the government was supporting their family.
“We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.
In a statement reported by the BBC on Monday, Qani said: “A series of considerations are being taken into account, and after evaluation, we will endeavour to release them as soon as possible.”
Qani added the three foreign nationals had Afghan passports and national ID cards.
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Global consensus on human rights is crumbling, UN rights chief says
“We need an all-out effort by everyone, to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations. Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous,” Turk said.
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The U.N. human rights chief on Monday warned that a system of global protections built in the decades after World War Two has never before been under so much strain, calling for an effort to reinforce it or risk suffering the atrocities of the past.
“The global consensus on human rights is crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs,” United Nations High Commissioner Volker Turk told a high-level meeting of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“We need an all-out effort by everyone, to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations. Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous,” he said.
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