Dear Readers:
File this story under “Who would have believed this if you could go back in time 40 years?” When Soviet troops were battling against fanatical ferocious Islamists in the mountains of Afghanistan? And now everybody is just good pals. Although I couldn’t help but notice that reporter Darya Grigorenko still had to place an asterisk (*) next to the word Taliban* in the Russian text. Since Russian law requires that media specify with asterisks any individuals or organizations deemed as terrorists. The Taliban is still regarded by the United Nations as a terrorist organization, hence the asterisk. However, the Russian government has decided they’re okay now, they are not terrorists at all, so maybe the asterisk will go away (?)
Headed by Mullah Abdul Manan Omari, Minister of Labor in the Taliban government in Kabul, the delegation arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia yesterday in order to participate in the Petersburg International Economic Forum (PMEF) held annually in Russia’s second city. Putting old grudges aside, Russia welcomed the delegation. President Putin has stressed that he wants to build good relations with the Taliban and, in general, restore the friendly relations and economic ties which used to bind Russia and Afghanistan. It also helps that the two countries share a common enemy – Guess who?
Old Friends Reunited
Fun fact: While delegates were schmoozing on the fringes of the international forum, two African delegates re-encountered each other again, they had not seen one another for 30 years!
Julius Mattai is the Minister of Mining and Mineral Resources in Sierra Leone. His old schoolmate Malam Sambu is the Minister of Natural Resources in Guinea-Bisseau.
Both men had studied together back in the USSR, in the city of Krivoi Rog (now Ukraine), between 1986-1992. [The piece doesn’t say, but presumably they were both studying in the Geology Faculty.]
Mattai, speaking in fluent Russian, explained to TASS reporters: “Malam and I lived on the same floor of the same dormitory. And now here we are again, we have not seen each other in 30 years!”
Their reunion took place just before the first session opened. The two Africans warmly greeted one another, as old friends.
Awful Avalanche 
As a reader who appreciates your linguistics bent, I thought you’d like to know you used a redundant positive in the caption of the picture accompanying this article. The word “taliban” is the plural form of the Arabic word “talib” roughly meaning “student” with the connotation of being a student of Islamic law and knowledge.
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thanks for your comment.. i learned something…
yalensis – thanks for this story and a glimpse into russias approach to moving forward and incorporating the taliban as a move into a better future.. onward and upward with your inspired muse!
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Aha! so “Talib-an” is already plural. Noted!
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The singular is Talib. Taliban literally means “two students”.
I would like to point out that the Taliban, as an organisation, such exist until 1994 when Mullah Omar set it up to rid Spin Boldak of Mujahideen thugs who kidnapped and raped women and extorted taxes on the highways. While many early Taliban were veterans of the 1980s, the majority were volunteers from madrasssas in refugee camps in Pakistan, and the were fighting the Mujahideen, the people who actually fought the USSR.
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I’m glad representatives from Africa and Central/South Asia are sharing the spotlight! Can you imagine the Taliban leadership being feted at Davos? Yalensis, I love place names. I think Krivoi Rog means Crooked Horn. Do Russians and/or Ukrainians make fun of “crooked” Zelensky, who was born there?
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It does indeed mean Crooked Horn! I believe because of the shape of a river that flows through, if I am not mistaken.
I never heard of anybody making fun of Zelensky on that account. Lots of other stuff, yes, but not his birthplace. Krivoi (“crooked”) doesn’t have the same slangy meaning in Russian as in English (as “corrupt”), I think it just literally means something bent. That also sounds bad in English.
In Russian, I think maybe the image is just a cow or bull with a literally crooked horn.
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I couldn’t find any Kromberg or Kromkop in South Africa, but Kromhorn is apparently a not unpopular name in Israel, there’s a variant of deer called a Kromhoring, and Crooked Horn is the name of a huge fake-Western couture outfit in the US. And the Crumhorn was a musical instrument in the middle ages — maybe Dhelenskiy’s birthplace was named after that. Certainly NATO plays him like an ocarina!
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Nice bit of toponymic research! I imagine a crooked horn could make a good musical instrument because you get more length by coiling it up, and easier to carry it around. Like a French horn!
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So crooked can mean coiled around like a ram’s horns? If so, that makes it easy to understand. Thanks.
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Hi Hismastersvoice – there is Kromdraai (meaning ‘crooked turn’) near Krugersdorp. A favourite camping site for the Voortrekker youth movement
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Just watched several hours of Putib responding to international journalists questions at SPIEF or MIEF, whatever its acronym truly is. The link was courtesy of Simplicius, so the URL is not possible to copy here. The link is provided early in the post, so you don’t have to plough through Simplicius’ usual wordfest nominating himself as the greatest ever.
As usual, Putin was on top of everything, and the journos seemed lame, asking dumb questions courtesy of mostly being Westerners. A foppish Japanese journo with a particulary natty hairdo got his history lesson on the islands Japan now claims are theirs not the RF’s, despite legal documents to the contrary. All the Japanes guy could do was scribble furiously away on his notepad. I believe Afghanistan was mentioned once or twice in three hours. Along with about every other matter.
Highly recommended. You hear direct answers to stupid American and European government “mind projections”. And a whole lot more. Putin made far too much sense for a lot of these journo dopes to take in.
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