Analysis: Taliban choices in new cabinet could hamper recognition by West

FILE PHOTO: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's deputy leader and negotiator, and other delegation members attend the Afghan peace conference in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2021. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Afghanistan's new rulers have rewarded Taliban veterans and hardliners with plum posts in the cabinet despite promising an inclusive government, but the choices could pose obstacles in the country getting Western recognition and aid.

At least three members named in what was described as an acting cabinet on Tuesday were among the Taliban Five, long-term detainees at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay who were freed in 2014 in exchange for an American soldier in Taliban custody.