As the Taliban closed in on Kabul and tens of thousands of men and women overwhelmed its airport, it was the smaller Gulf state of Qatar that very first opened its doors to evacuees, rapid establishing itself as the West’s major line of communication to an organization ideal recognized for harboring Osama bin Laden.
The US and UK have due to the fact moved their Afghanistan embassies to Doha, its crucial part lauded by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin — each going to this week. Yet a relationship painstakingly nurtured more than the previous decade could rapidly grow to be a liability for Qatar if it fails to provide the world the new-look Taliban it is attempted to nurture one that is more hospitable to females and significantly less hospitable to terrorists on the run.
Qatar’s ties to the Taliban and other Islamist groups have lengthy been a supply of tension with its neighbors and concern for its Western allies. Caught out by the pretty much instant collapse of the US-backed government as the last American troops left, Western powers had handful of other indicates of contacting the Taliban’s political representatives.
Qatar’s reveled in hosting talks with the Taliban, total with large backdrops and dramatic lighting, and has gained the trust of its political leaders. Some 500 to 600 Taliban members with their households have lived in cosmopolitan Doha, according to a Gulf-based diplomat. They consist of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the political wing, who has held talks amongst the skyscrapers, in 5-star hotels exactly where Qatar’s modesty guidelines are not strictly observed.
That gave the Taliban a platform to recast itself as more moderate and prepared for government through the Qatar-based Al Jazeera tv channel. And it gave Qatar, which has deftly fostered relations with Iran and Islamist groups though serving as a regional headquarters for US military operations, an chance to raise its personal stature with its most significant strategic ally.
At a press conference in Doha Tuesday, Blinken heaped praise on Qatar for its enable 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, on the other hand, how Qatar will bridge the gap among the image-conscious leaders it is hosted and the Taliban’s military wing, which is closer to Pakistan, the longtime political broker next door, and sees significantly less require to accommodate.
There’s no meeting of minds as there is with Pakistan, Western diplomats say. The Qataris have even located Baradar, who is at odds with the Pakistanis, tough to deal with, according to the diplomat, who spoke on situation of anonymity. And Pakistan’s not the only interested party. Landlocked Afghanistan is surrounded by strong neighbors such as Iran and China, with a more direct interest in its fate 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 at 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 will be conditional on it enabling secure passage out of Kabul and the flow of humanitarian help, not becoming a haven for terrorist organizations, respecting human rights and forming an inclusive government.
There’s no proof, on the other hand, that Qatar can influence the Taliban’s method to the education of females and girls, even though the Qatari ruling family has identified that as a priority.
And though 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 however to persuade the Taliban to accept foreign safety employees at the airport, a important sticking point.
The Qatari government did not respond to a request for comment on its relations with the Taliban.
Aware of its personal limitations, Qatar has focused significantly less on attempting to induce transform in the Taliban’s attitude and more on utilizing its deep pockets to purchase influence in a area of strategic interest to main powers, mentioned one more individual familiar with the matter, requesting anonymity to talk about a sensitive concern.
The world’s top rated exporter of liquefied organic gas and one of the world’s richest nations, Qatar has economic leverage as properly as lobbying clout in Washington that Pakistan lacks. That’s grow to be more crucial to the Taliban as Western governments and international organizations shy away from supporting a regime that is however to prove it is distinctive to the international pariah of the 1990s.
If Afghanistan does, once more, grow to be a haven for terrorists, Qatar’s ties could rapidly grow to be a issue.
Saudi Arabia was castigated for recognizing the Taliban regime of the 1990s, which hosted al-Qaeda prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Today, the Gulf’s hereditary rulers largely view any Islamic political movement as a threat to national safety and to their personal primacy and watch Qatar’s higher-stakes foreign policy 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.”
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