Qatar’s reveled in internet hosting talks with the Taliban and has gained the belief of its leaders. (File)
As the Taliban closed in on Kabul and tens of hundreds of individuals overwhelmed its airport, it was the small Gulf state of Qatar that first opened its doorways to evacuees, quick establishing itself because the West’s fundamental line of communication to a company greatest recognized for harboring Osama bin Laden.
The US and UK have since moved their Afghanistan embassies to Doha, its crucial position lauded by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — each visiting this week. Yet a relationship painstakingly nurtured over the previous decade might rapidly turn out to be a legal responsibility for Qatar if it fails to ship the world the new-look Taliban it is tried to nurture; one which’s extra hospitable to ladies and fewer hospitable to terrorists on the run.
Qatar’s ties to the Taliban and different Islamist teams have lengthy been a supply of rigidity with its neighbors and concern for its Western allies. Caught out by the virtually speedy collapse of the US-backed authorities because the final American troops left, Western powers had few different technique of contacting the Taliban’s political representatives.
Qatar’s reveled in internet hosting talks with the Taliban, full with huge backdrops and dramatic lighting, and has gained the belief of its political leaders. Some 500 to 600 Taliban members with their households have lived in cosmopolitan Doha, based on a Gulf-based diplomat. They embrace Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the pinnacle of the political wing, who has held talks among the many skyscrapers, in five-star motels the place Qatar’s modesty guidelines aren’t strictly noticed.
That gave the Taliban a platform to recast itself as extra reasonable and prepared for presidency through the Qatar-based Al Jazeera tv channel. And it gave Qatar, which has deftly fostered relations with Iran and Islamist teams whereas serving as a regional headquarters for US army operations, a possibility to lift its personal stature with its most vital strategic ally.
At a press convention in Doha Tuesday, Blinken heaped reward on Qatar for its assist in Afghanistan. “For years, at our request, you’ve facilitated diplomacy between the Taliban and the Afghan government to try to bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution,” he mentioned.
It’s not clear, nevertheless, how Qatar will bridge the hole between the image-conscious leaders it is hosted and the Taliban’s army wing, which is nearer to Pakistan, the longtime political dealer subsequent door, and sees much less have to accommodate.
There’s no assembly of minds as there’s with Pakistan, Western diplomats say. The Qataris have even discovered Baradar, who’s at odds with the Pakistanis, troublesome to cope with, based on the diplomat, who spoke on situation of anonymity. And Pakistan’s not the one occasion. Landlocked Afghanistan is surrounded by highly effective neighbors akin to Iran and China, with a extra direct curiosity in its destiny than distant Qatar.
“Qatar is an important conduit between the Taliban and the rest of the world, but does not wield anything like the kind of deep influence on the group that Pakistan does,” mentioned Jane Kinninmont, Middle East analyst on the European Leadership Network.
“Qatar’s relationship with the Taliban has focused heavily on mediation and international relations. It therefore influences a particular subsection of the Taliban – those that want to engage with the outside world and have pragmatic relationships that will enable them to access aid and trade.”
A Liability
Western governments have mentioned any engagement with the Afghan regime can be conditional on it permitting secure passage out of Kabul and the stream of humanitarian help, not changing into a haven for terrorist organizations, respecting human rights and forming an inclusive authorities.
There’s no proof, nevertheless, that Qatar can affect the Taliban’s strategy to the training of girls and ladies, although the Qatari ruling household has recognized that as a precedence.
And whereas Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has mentioned his nation was working with the Taliban and Turkey to restart operations at Kabul airport, it has but to influence the Taliban to simply accept overseas safety employees on the airport, a key sticking level.
The Qatari authorities didn’t reply to a request for touch upon its relations with the Taliban.
Aware of its personal limitations, Qatar has centered much less on making an attempt to induce change within the Taliban’s perspective and extra on utilizing its deep pockets to purchase affect in a area of strategic curiosity to main powers, mentioned one other individual accustomed to the matter, requesting anonymity to debate a delicate problem.
The world’s prime exporter of liquefied pure fuel and one of many world’s richest nations, Qatar has monetary leverage in addition to lobbying clout in Washington that Pakistan lacks. That’s turn out to be extra crucial to the Taliban as Western governments and worldwide organizations draw back from supporting a regime that is but to show it is totally different to the worldwide pariah of the 1990s.
If Afghanistan does, once more, turn out to be a haven for terrorists, Qatar’s ties might rapidly turn out to be an issue.
Saudi Arabia was castigated for recognizing the Taliban regime of the 1990s, which hosted al-Qaeda earlier than the September 11, 2001 assaults on the US. Today, the Gulf’s hereditary rulers largely view any Islamic political motion as a risk to nationwide safety and to their very own primacy and watch Qatar’s high-stakes overseas coverage with concern.
“Qatar could easily be embarrassed and may want to distance itself from the Taliban or at least from some of its leaders,” Kinninmont mentioned. “Some Taliban members are now using language that appeals internationally but it’s unclear if this newfound presentability is much more than a re-branding.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)