Afghanistan's new Taliban rulers say they want education and jobs for women.A top Taliban leader expressed that idea while talking with The Associated Press recently.He said the group seeks to earn the world's "mercy and compassion" to help millions of Afghans in need.Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi also told the AP that the Taliban government wants good relations with all countries.He said it has no problem with the United States.He urged the United States and other nations to release up to $10 billion that were frozen when the Taliban took power.The Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15 when the earlier Afghan government fled the country.“Sanctions against Afghanistan would…not have any benefit,” Muttaqi said from Kabul on Sunday.“Making Afghanistan unstable or having a weak Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone," he added.His assistants include workers from earlier governments as well as Taliban fighters.Muttaqi said he understood the world's anger over limits on girls' education and on women in the workforce.In many parts of Afghanistan, female students between grades seven and 12 have not been permitted to go to school since the Taliban took over.
