one day they too may compete at an olympic games. ♪ >> this is al jazeera. these are the headlines. speaking from the united arab emirates, afghanistan's former president has defended his decision to leave kabul. he says he left to avoid violence and denies rumors he fled with suitcases full of cash. there are reports taliban fighters have opened fire on protesters in the eastern afghan city of jalalabad. more from kabul. >> this was a particularly ugly

incident. it is being seen since the taliban just assumed power a couple of days ago as the first major active defiance against them. jalalabad is a very important city. it is east of here toward the border with pakistan. this protest began over the national flag. since the taliban have taken power, they have consciously been removing the afghan national flag and replacing it with a taliban flag. we have seen that a lot in the capital. it has left a lot of people very upset. >> the international monetary fund is withholding 400 60 million dollars from afghanistan citing a lack of clarity over government recognition. the u.s. has frozen $9.5 billion of afghan government assets. nearly the entire reserve of its central bank. the u.s. defense secretary has concluded evacuations from kabul

have not met their target. lloyd austin has said american troops don't have the capacity to extend the on the airport perimeter to get -- to help you get more people out of afghanistan. the british prime minister says the u.k. will do all that can to avert a humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. boris johnson says he does not believe military action against the taliban is an option. president joe biden says he disagrees with the world health organizations warning against giving coronavirus booster shots. he has unveiled plans to offer them from september. stay with us. inside story is up next. ♪ >> after 20 years, the taliban

is back in power and afghanistan. it says it will protect women's rights and set up an inclusive government. has the armed group changed its ways? what type of and administration william -- will emerge? this is inside story. ♪ welcome to the program. millions of afghans who lived through the 1990's remember the taliban's harsh rules and governing style. the armed group says it has changed as it gets ready to lead the country once again. in its first news conference since taking kabul on sunday, the taliban protect -- promised to protect women's rights, give amnesty to those who worked with foreigners and roof -- and respect freedoms.

they have called on women and other minorities to join their government. many afghans and world leaders are skeptical. we will get to our guests in a moment. this report from kabul. >> after years in the shadows, the taliban spokesman's face was finally revealed. fronting for the first taliban press conference in 20 years. 7000 u.s. forces scramble to evacuate americans on military planes. the taliban called it an historic moment. >> taking the freedom is a right of all nations. the afghan people by using their legal right after 20 years of war were able to take their freedom and claim their country. >> while the group could not reveal who will lead the country, he said talks are ongoing for an inclusive political system and promised all afghan rights will be respected.

there is a lot of concern about whether women will be allowed to work. that girls can still go to school. what assurances can you give to women and girls that their rights will be protected? >> islamic emirate is committed to the right of women within the framework of syria. they are going to be working shoulder to shoulder with us. we want to assure the international community there will be no discrimination against women. of course within our religious framework. >> after years of war, trust is hard to come by. as a woman, should i be scared of the taliban? >> no. why should you be scared of us? you should never be afraid of us. >> the taliban has asked everyone in kabul to continue their lives as usual and keep going to work. it has also declared an amnesty for all those who worked against the armed group sang all has forgiven -- all has been forgiven and embassies and foreign national should feel

safe. the taliban has sought to portray itself as more moderate yet people are wondering if this really is the taliban 2.0. >> the situation in kabul is really good now. the taliban are here and we have taken control of security and we will hold it till the end. >> taliban have made a number of statements that on the surface are reassuring but actions speak deeper than words. it is very early. it is very fluid. it is very hard to say what is happening exactly. >> yet the taliban are in high spirits and defiant afghanistan's days as a battlefield are overpaid he said he hopes people would stop fleeing and stated to be assets to the nation. >> we have -- everyone, all

those who have fought against us. don't want a repeat of war. we want to do away with the factors of conflict. the islamic emirate of afghanistan does not have conflict with anybody. we want the fighting to end. >> he stated journalists should remain free and independent to critique group so it can improve. one journalist asked, you say you can forgive everyone but do you think the victims can forgive you? for afghans on all sides, there is a lot of healing ahead. >> let's take a closer look at how the taliban ruled afghanistan back in the 1990's. the armed group was formed in 1994 by a former mujahedin who fought against the soviets in the 1980's. is movement attracted popular support because of the lawlessness, corruption and instability that followed the soviet exit. the taliban took full power in 1996 after the full of kabul and

controlled nearly 90% of the nation. it barred girls from going to school and imposed capital punishment for various crimes. the taliban government was overthrown in 2001 after the u.s. invasion triggered by the 9/11 attacks. ♪ let's bring in our guests in kabul. head of the international relations department. in belfast, a practitioner chair at the senator george j mitchell institute for global peace security and justice at queens university belfast. in washington, a former afghan ambassador to france and canada and former advisor to the afghan chief executive. thanks for being us -- being with us today. the taliban has said they are looking to form an inclusive government. what from your perspective does that mean and will non-taliban figures make up a part of the

new government? >> by inclusive, according to me, that would be giving space to all those people who are the ones fighting the taliban as part of the previous government and other minorities in the government so that everybody sees themselves in future government and no one deems themselves marginalized because that has always been one of the concerns among the people. that if taliban form a sort of one-handed unilateral government, what about the minority rights? and political position? by inclusive, i believe it must

be wide ranging and covering all those who are, who were not taliban or who were once opposed to the taliban rule. >> let me ask you the same question. from your perspective, what is the makeup of any future government going to look like? >> very difficult to say at this point as discussions are ongoing. we saw some astonishing pictures from kabul today. with someone who once was incarcerated in kabul. having meetings in the house. and then you have a delegation of afghans belonging to the old northern alliance. some of them obviously. others are taking an opposition

viewpoint. two of massoud's brothers including a foreign minister and others who are in islamabad, pakistan and have been holding talks with pakistanis. even having meetings with the taliban. it will be back in kabul. there's a push to create a broad-based government. there is going to be a two stage affair. stage one is to agree to some kind of an interim or transitional set up. we should expect that to be broad-based. then they will have to work on something more permanent. that may take months or a year or more. what the taliban spokesman yesterday called creating a new state. a new state order and new political order. that is going to take a bit longer because there are many discussions that have to take place. we don't know if there will be a

constitution approved. i see this as a two step process. >> omar just mentioned these meetings that took place in which hamid karzai were a part of. is that an encouraging sign? >> we have to be absolutely clear that efforts to achieve a broad-based government which could end the conflict have been underway for a long time and until now have comprehensively failed to the taliban exercise the option of using armed force to grab all power for themselves. they have succeeded in that. they are continuing the messaging they are interested in broad-based government. if one emerges, i think most of the international community would welcome it but they have not done a single thing other than use words to show their commitment to that. if we look to the spirit of the movement on the ground, the fighters who succeeded in

overthrowing the afghan government, they are not waiting for a broad-based government to as far as they are concerned, they are determined to establish a government led by the taliban which will enforce sharia law and establish a new state, which is in name or otherwise a repeat of the emirate they had previously. these are ideas. it would be great if they worked out. we have not seen a single compromise from the taliban throughout this period. there is a possibility all of us much state test must take seriously, which is that the continue talks in as lum about any kabul are just a way of trying to keep hope alive while the taliban consolidate themselves in sole control of the afghan state. this is at the moment the most likely outcome. i have heard nothing from the talks underway to suggest the taliban actually are ready to receive anybody with any political weight, any support outside the taliban inter-government.

at the moment, they are talking about this. . the reality is the taliban have grabbed power and the taliban get the call the shots as to who will be in the new government. >> can you tell our viewers for the moment what the mood is like in kabul? what are you hearing from people? is there a sense of worry? do they largely believe what the taliban is saying about it being a more moderate style of leadership now than it was in the 1990's? >> there is optimism. the optimism is that the taliban entered kabul -- there were no battles. extreme concern to everybody. you have had a capital with almost 6.5 million people. any battle within the capital

would have been disastrous and catastrophic. after the taliban entered the city, they largely curtailed the looting of the public people, public infrastructure and other things. also seemingly up until now, from my personal perspective, the taliban have mentioned they are somewhat of a moderate approach. it seems normal. and also we are hearing of the national amnesty. the briefings yesterday to the public where a lot of things were mentioned and they were all taken positively. the concern at the same time is that there has not been a clear

roadmap announced by the taliban what would be the future roadmap, what sort of a government would afghanistan have and we still have the acting president who is -- who has already announced resistance. that is also a concern now because if we do not have a broad-based all-inclusive government and these people start a new resistance, that means the war will not end. we would witness battles in pockets of the country. there will be a war.

the people are happy because what we see is a different taliban. at the same time, they are concerned about the future roadmap and because there is no clarity yet what sort of a government structure or system would afghanistan have after this. >> you spoke a few moments ago about what you believe needs to happen for negotiations to go forward. let me ask you if you think there will be any international mediators playing a part in any talks going forward. >> at this point, i don't think so. mediation could have been possible if both sides had agreed at doha. talks are now going to shift to afghanistan to cynicism aside, i think the record is now clear. we can spin this as we want but the record is over the last two

years and the last 18 months, i know for a fact the taliban put forward on two occasions a power-sharing arrangement with details of how this can be done to afghan politicians in kabul. the person who sabotaged that. ashraf ghani for his own political purposes was single-handedly -- not want the deal. he -- the taliban in agreement for talks with anyone except ashraf ghani. ashraf ghani saw himself as a target. the taliban were not ready to talk to him. this is why he was an obstacle to the peace process moving forward. there were other reasons as well. that was the main reason. everybody in afghanistan knows this. it is part of the record.

we cannot change history with narratives that are false. we need to grasp the moment. there is an opportunity for afghanistan to come together to unite. there are taliban who are against the broad-based approach. there are other politicians who are opposed to even deal with the taliban. he wants to fight. there are all kinds of different shades of politicians in afghanistan. people are still willing to fight. the majority now want stability and peace and prefer a broad-based approach. until we go towards a more solid political system that reflects the will of the majority of afghans. >> how much has all of this changed the geopolitical map in asia? how much is this going to be benefiting russia and china? are they going to be stepping in and filling the void created by america's departure?

>> it is quite clear the afghans are so far suffering. listening to the hope that omar is offering. millions of afghans have had their livelihoods disrupted. the united states has withdrawn from the region. it is still not clear how that void is going to be filled. they will of course -- pakistan can be expected to back this government. whether the taliban make it easy to do that or not depends on the decisions they make in the coming days. if they put together a hard-line militant regime and don't make the compromises necessary, even pakistan is going to find itself under pressure for engaging with them. the chinese preference is indeed to engage in collaboration with

pakistan. iran is concerned with the development. it is strongly supportive of the idea of a broad-based government. they feel they can engage if there is a broad-based government but it is not sure if that can be pulled off. we should expect a period of transition in terms of the geopolitics of it to see whether the taliban can get themselves into the kind of shape people can deal with or not. until this week, the stated position both in the region and internationally was that nobody would deal with a taliban regime, which had been imposed by force and now a taliban regime has been imposed by force. >> let me ask you about a couple

of things michael mentioned. what role do you think palestine -- do you think pakistan is going to play in negotiations going forward? do you believe russia is going to be open to working with the taliban going forward? >> i think both these countries have their concerns. they would want afghanistan or taliban to address them. pakistan at the moment want to be a trade hub for central asia. looking at the project that is a flagship project. to become a central trade hub, pakistan needs a peaceful afghanistan. if there is peace in afghanistan, that dream can come true. if there is chaos and war, definitely that would remain as a dream to a peaceful

afghanistan is in favor of pakistan. with russia, you have the concerns of the illegal drug trade and also the spillover of extremism. this also largely depends on the taliban's behavior. as we see, the taliban's ambitions and claim is limited to kabul. they want to have a islamic government in a state in afghanistan. that means they are not afghanistan for regional causes of other groups. if that happens and russia is sure of afghanistan not being a launchpad, i think the russians would align themselves because we should also not forget one of the major concerns for russia was -- if the taliban are prepared to curtail it, that would bring the

future states closer. it largely depends on how taliban addresses these concerns and how they practically look at these concerns. if these countries see their interests somehow be achieved through a taliban government, they will have no other problem. it seems the russians have said they would be cautious in recognizing the government, which means they would have to see some actions being taken by the taliban. >> of course there is a lot of concern right now there could be a refugee crisis now the taliban has taken power and so many afghans want to leave the country. what are the humanitarian implications of all that has happened ? >> it depends on which reports you read and what accounts you

trust more. there is a -- even before the taliban started the military campaign pit that has probably been exacerbated by now because of the fact the government is no longer providing services as it should. these things will have to change quickly. the taliban whether they're going to be a broad-based, whether they include some technocrats or bureaucrats to run the show, whether they are going to have inclusivity in the system or going to be flexible and compromising has a huge responsibility on their shoulders not only to maintain security and stability but also to be sure the afghan population's needs are addressed.

the government is back on its feet and can function even though the government was a corrupt government. a government that had limited capacity to provide and control half of the country. with all of that, all of afghanistan is in one hand. it will have a hard time running and managing affairs unless they open the space. in less they bring in expertise. unless they show flexibility. and less they engage international community in ways the international community wants to be engaged. they can absorb and ask for assistance and aid for years to come. all of this obviously is going to be part of challenges the taliban will be facing moving forward. >> really have about 30 seconds left so i'm going to ask you to keep your answers short should you believe they are going to be schisms going forward within the

taliban? you believe there will be a power struggle? >> i think the taliban are good at maintaining their unity. for now, they will manage to maintain that. . the question is whether there will be resistance from outside. >> we have run out of time so we are going to have to leave our conversation there. thanks so much to all of our guests. thank you for watching. you can see the program any time by visiting our website, al jazeera.com or for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. for the whole team tear -- from the whole team here, goodbye for now. ♪

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- hey i'm valerie ne. comi up on reel south . - [valerie] in the wake of the vietnam war, vinamese rugees wereelocatedo the texagulf coast. languagend cultul rriers kt them apart om their new neibors d disput over fiing had re conquences. - we wertrying tstop any vioe - [narrator] major funding for reel south was provided by: etv endowment, the national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media, and by south arts. additional funding for "seadrift" was provided by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people,