Pakistan to rally Muslim countries to help Afghanistan

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is rallying Muslim countries to help Afghanistan stave off an economic and humanitarian disaster. It’s also cajoling the neighboring country’s new Taliban rulers to soften their image abroad. Pakistan’s foreign minister says that the meeting on Sunday of several foreign ministers from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation — or OIC — was called by Pakistan to find ways to help Afghanistan while navigating the difficult political realities of a Taliban-run administration in Kabul. The Taliban-appointed government is sanctioned by the international community, which is still reeling from the collapse of Afghanistan’s military and its Western-backed government in mid-August.