In a rare statement addressing LGBT rights, the Taliban said that their intended support for human rights did not include gay rights. Although Western powers want to avert a humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan, they have refused to officially recognise the Taliban government. Haqmal said Afghanistan would allow women an education, although not in the same classrooms as men. Human rights, he said, would be respected but within the framework of Islamic law, which would not include gay rights. “LGBT… That’s against our Sharia law,” he said. Mehrabi hopes that while the United States has recently said it will not release its lion’s share of roughly $9 billion of funds, European countries might. He said Germany held half a billion dollars of Afghan money and that it and other European countries should release those funds.