By Mohammad Farshad Daryosh in TOLOnews, May 14, 2023 at 8:13 PM
The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that officials of the Afghan interim government in their meeting with the Qatari delegation who visited Kandahar on Friday, urged them to invest in Afghanistan.
A Qatari delegation led by the country’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani arrived in Kandahar on Friday and held talks with Islamic Emirate’s officials.
Mujahid said that the Islamic Emirate requested that Qatar take steps for the improvement of relations between the international community and Afghanistan.
“We asked Qatar for their continued cooperation and to take influential steps in diplomacy to eliminate the concerns and doubts existing in some countries,” he said.
However, some diplomats said that Qatar’s Prime Minister brought an important message to the Islamic Emirate.
“Qatar itself, as the supporter of the Taliban, sent its Prime Minister to tell the Taliban that they are still a supporter of the Taliban but ‘your actions affect the reputation and position of Qatar at an international level.’ Another message was from regional countries since the recent (Doha) meeting about the concern about the Taliban,” said Barna Salehi, political analyst.
“If the international community wants to improve its relations with the Taliban via Qatar, I think the major influence of Qatar cannot be ignored and they may help the Taliban in the improvement of their relations,” said Nematullah Bizhan, political analyst.
This comes as Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Prime Minister of Qatar spoke with US Secretary Antony Blinken and discussed bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan.
The US State Department also in a statement said Blinken thanked the Prime Minister for “Qatar’s partnership and important efforts to de-escalate violence throughout the recent hostilities” and “reiterated his appreciation for Qatar’s continued assistance in Afghanistan.”
“The role of Qatar has been positive in the political and economic interaction of Afghanistan. As it played an important role in signing the agreement, it currently plays an important role in extensions of engagement between the Islamic Emirate and the international community,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, the Deputy Minister of Economy.
Qatar hosted the fragile peace negotiations between the US and then Islamic Emirate’s political office that also resulted in a peace deal between the US and Taliban.
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-183360
