A Taliban member has been appointed head of the Afghan embassy in Berlin without the German government’s knowledge, public broadcaster ARD reported.
The unilateral move appears to show the Islamist group’s efforts to assert control over Afghanistan’s diplomatic missions abroad, despite lacking official recognition from almost all countries, including Germany. Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the receiving state must approve an ambassador or head of mission before they take up the role.
What do we know?
ARD named the man as Nebrasul H., one of two low-level Afghan consular officials who arrived in Berlin last July to help prepare deportations of failed asylum seekers to Afghanistan. The German government had approved his appointment for that role, ARD said.
However, the broadcaster alleges Nebrasul H. was also secretly recruited to lead the Afghan embassy in Berlin. ARD said it obtained confidential documents showing he acts and signs as chargé d’affaires — the diplomat who heads an embassy in place of a full ambassador. The documents reportedly name him as chargé d’affaires within the Berlin mission and in contact with Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul.
ARD said he effectively serves as a Taliban “ambassador,” noting Germany is now the only EU member state where the Islamist group is effectively running an embassy.
Berlin not informed
ARD reported the German government was unaware of his more senior role. A German Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the broadcaster there had been “no notification of any personnel changes at the Afghan diplomatic missions in Germany.”
Germany does not recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. Officials have repeatedly said Berlin wants Afghan missions to be led by representatives of the pre-Taliban government that governed before the Taliban seized control in August 2021 as US and NATO forces withdrew.
Ghani’s appointee secretly demoted
ARD described how the previous head, Abdul P., has been reduced to a figurehead and was stripped of powers and demoted in January. Diplomatic sources told the broadcaster Abdul P. was not considered trustworthy because he had been appointed by the US-backed pre-Taliban government of President Ashraf Ghani.
The Afghan Foreign Ministry reportedly planned to keep the announcement of a new diplomat secret from Germany until March, according to a letter ARD cited. The ministry had originally intended to recall Abdul P., but he persuaded them he was still needed because of his experience. Abdul P. has been allowed to remain in the ambassador’s residence in Berlin’s Zehlendorf district and drives a car with diplomatic license plates, the report said.
Second diplomat appointed by Kabul
The other junior official who accompanied Nebrasul H. last year has effectively taken on the role of Afghan Consulate General in Bonn, western Germany, ARD alleged, despite not being recognized by Berlin. Some countries maintain diplomatic branch offices in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany, where several federal ministries and agencies remain headquartered.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah