Russia edges toward Taliban recognition

The lower house of Russian parliament on Tuesday gave an initial approval of a long-discussed bill that would open the way for the Russian authorities to remove the Taliban’s designation as a terrorist group.

Under the bill approved by the State Duma in the first of three required readings, a group's designation as terrorist could be temporarily suspended by court.

The legislation also needs to be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law.

Vasily Piskarev, the head of the State Duma committee on security and anti-corruption said: "We are not talking about justifying terrorism, nor about promoting terrorism. We are talking about temporarily suspending the ban on the activities of this organization."

The temporary nature of the suspension will allow officials to "assess the situation" and consider reinstating the ban, he added.

The Taliban were put on the Russian list of terrorist organizations in 2003, and any contact with such groups is punishable under Russian law. At the same time, Taliban delegations attended various forums hosted by Moscow.

Russian officials have shrugged off questions about the seeming contradiction by emphasizing the need to engage the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended with its troops withdrawing in 1989. Since then, Moscow has made a diplomatic comeback as an influential power broker in international talks on Afghanistan, hosting the Taliban representatives and members of other factions for a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings.