Italy to Host  Emergency G20 Summit on Afghanistan

Italy's  Prime Minister Mario Draghi will host a special summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Afghanistan as concerns grow over a humanitarian catastrophe after the Taliban returned to power last August.

The virtual summit, which will be held remotely, will focus on aid and concerns about security and ensuring the safe exit of thousands of Afghans who have allied with Western countries and are still in Afghanistan.

An official familiar with the G20 plans said that there is an urgent need to provide humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable groups in that country, especially women and children, as winter approaches.

It is worth noting that Afghanistan suffers from severe winters as snow caps mountains and roofs of houses throughout the country.

Italy, which currently chairs the Group of Twenty(G20), is working hard to hold the meeting in light of the great differences in views in the group's countries regarding dealing with Afghanistan after the American withdrawal from Kabul.

The official summit of G20 leaders will be held on October 30-31 in Rome and is scheduled to focus on climate change, global economic recovery, combating global malnutrition, and the Coronavirus  ( known also as COVID-19) pandemic.

However,  Bloomberg Agency reported, quoting informed sources, that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in Rome this month.

The sources said that Chinese diplomats informed G20 officials of this during the meeting of advisors of member states in preparation for the summit in Florence, Italy, last month.

Chinese diplomats pointed out that the reason for Xi Jinping's non-attendance to the summit is the Chinese protocols for fighting the Coronavirus, which include sanitary isolation for travelers returning from abroad.

According to Bloomberg's sources, Beijing has not contacted the Italian authorities on this issue since then, and that Italy has not yet received the official notification that Xi Jinping will not attend the summit and message.

The message was sent at the last minute before the summit, which begins on October 30.

"Bloomberg" indicates that Xi Jinping has not left Chinese territory since mid-January, attended various summit-level events, and made contacts with other leaders via video technology.