Moscow: Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, took a preliminary step this week toward potentially lifting the Taliban's terrorist designation. The Duma passed a bill on its first reading that would allow a court to temporarily suspend an organization's terrorist label. The bill requires two more readings in the Duma, approval by the upper house, and President Vladimir Putin's signature to become law.
The Taliban were added to Russia's terrorist list in 2003. Russian law prohibits contact with designated terrorist groups. However, Taliban representatives have participated in Moscow-hosted forums.
