Taliban disappears from Kyrgyzstan's list of prohibited organizations

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Taliban was removed Thursday from Kyrgyzstan’s list of prohibited organizations.

The Kyrgyz Attorney General's Office published an updated list of banned organizations on Sept. 2 but did journalists notice that the hard-line religious group was no longer on the list until early Thursday.

Kyrgyz authorities did not officially announce the removal of the group from the list, which is similarly designated on the website of the Kyrgyz State Commission for Religious Affairs.

Deputy head of the State Commission for Religious Affairs, Azamat Yusupov, said he was aware of the new edition of the list when asked about it by the reporters.

"Taking into account recent changes in Afghanistan, the Taliban may be excluded from the list of terrorist organizations, but it is up to judicial authorities to decide," he said.

The Taliban, which is banned in several Central Asian countries and Russia, has been removed from the terror groups’ list in Kazakhstan, and similar processes are being discussed in Russia.

Kyrgyzstan's decision may be part of a general trend in the region to review relations with the Afghan leadership.