WASHINGTON: The Qatari prime minister held secret talks with the supreme leader of the Taliban this month on resolving tension with the international community, a source briefed on the meeting said, signalling a new willingness by Afghanistan’s rulers to discuss ways to end their isolation.
The May 12 meeting in Kandahar between Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Haibatullah Akhunzada is the first the reclusive Taliban chief is known to have held with a foreign leader.
US President Joe Biden’s administration was briefed on the talks and is “coordinating on issues discussed” by the pair, including furthering dialogue with the Taliban, said the source. The meeting represents a diplomatic success for Qatar, which has criticised Taliban restrictions on women while using ties with the Islamist movement to push for deeper engagement with Kabul.
The US has led demands for the Taliban to end the bans on girls’ schooling and women working to restore their freedom of movement and bring Afghans from outside Taliban ranks into government. The source’s comments suggested that Washington supported elevating what have been unproductive lower-level talks in the hope of a breakthrough that could end the world’s only bans of their kind and ease humanitarian and financial crises.
The May 12 meeting in Kandahar between Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Haibatullah Akhunzada is the first the reclusive Taliban chief is known to have held with a foreign leader.
US President Joe Biden’s administration was briefed on the talks and is “coordinating on issues discussed” by the pair, including furthering dialogue with the Taliban, said the source. The meeting represents a diplomatic success for Qatar, which has criticised Taliban restrictions on women while using ties with the Islamist movement to push for deeper engagement with Kabul.
The US has led demands for the Taliban to end the bans on girls’ schooling and women working to restore their freedom of movement and bring Afghans from outside Taliban ranks into government. The source’s comments suggested that Washington supported elevating what have been unproductive lower-level talks in the hope of a breakthrough that could end the world’s only bans of their kind and ease humanitarian and financial crises.