Qatari foreign minister travelled to Afghanistan for a series of talks with multiple current and former officials. This is the first visit by a foreign official after Taliban’s takeover of the country.
As the first foreign official to visit Kabul after the fall of latest government, Qatari foreign minister entered the city on Sunday. Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani started his diplomatic mission is Kabul with a meeting with Taliban’s acting prime minister Hassan Akhund.
In his meeting with the Taliban-designated Prime Minister, Qatari foreign minister urged the new authorities to “involve all Afghan parties in national reconciliation.”
The officials reviewed the present political landscape in Afghanistan as well as Qatar’s ongoing attempts to assist Afghans. The Taliban disseminated photos of Al Thani negotiation with Akhund, while photos of him with previous Afghan President Hamid Karzai was circulating on social media.
Taliban had also its sole political office in Doha, where it handled the discussions with Washington that finally led to the departure of US soldiers from Afghanistan.
According to the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides also discussed coordinated measures to battle terrorist groups that threaten Afghanistan’s security. They also made attempts to seek ways to improve security in the region and ensure a safe movement for the people.
Qatar is one of the rare Taliban’s powerful allies. It has a major influence over Taliban due to ling-time talks and facilitation of diplomatic acknowledgment of Taliban.
Doha have had a key role in the enormous US-led evacuation mission to withdraw its troops along with Afghans who provided assistance to them through their long presence in Afghanistan.
Abdulrahman Al Thani also met with other Afghan influential figures. Among others, Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president, and Abdullah Abdullah, the chief of the National Reconciliation Council talked with Qatari minister.
Qatari Foreign Minister’s Mission in Kabul
The Taliban established a diplomatic presence in Qatari capital eight years ago. The center, which the US authorized to open, intended to kick off a peace process that would finally put an end to US military involvement in Afghanistan.
Of course, the outcome was not what America had expected. The desperate flight operation out of Kabul, like the negotiations before it, was mainly reliant on Qatar. more than 50% of the 120,000 persons who found a flight out of Afghanistan by the United States passed through Al-Udeid.
Qatar, a tiny nation in the Persian Gulf region, thereby, proved a key role in both the talks for withdrawal and the withdrawal. It invited rival factions from Yemen, Sudan, and Lebanon to meet for talks.
Qatar, unlike its neighbors, is also receptive to other Islamic nations. It’s no wonder, therefore, that it was instrumental in enabling discussions between the United States and Taliban. Doha had the ability to gain the trust of both parties. UAE’s failure to host Taliban negotiations is telling about Qatar’s regional and trans-regional influence.
Qatar Used to view the US as its primary security provider. The Persian Gulf nations, on the other hand, have had rising misgivings about America’s credibility in the years after Arab spring. Both former US presidents, from opposing parties, came to see the nations of region as a fat market with lobbyist plowing it even more than politicians.
Qatar’s neighbors are waiting to see what happens. Saudi kingdom and the UAE were two of just three countries to recognize Taliban’s government when they first came to power in the 1990s. This time, however, Qatari foreign minister and his visit proved the game is not similar to 26 years ago. Qatar is an emerging power of the Middle East.
