Suhail Shaheen

Muhammad Suhail Shaheen (Pashto/Dari: محمد سهیل شاهین, Pashto pronunciation: [mʊˈhamad sʊˈhel ʃaˈhin], Dari pronunciation: [mʊˈhammad sʊˈheːl ʃaˈhiːn]) is a Taliban member who is currently the head of the Afghan embassy in Qatar and the head of the Political Office in Doha.

[1] He edited the English-language, state-owned Afghan newspaper The Kabul Times during the first Taliban regime, before being appointed to Afghanistan's Embassy in Pakistan as a deputy ambassador.

[3] He was educated in Pakistan, and he is known to be a prolific writer and fluent speaker of English and Urdu in addition to his native Pashto.

[4] During the period of the Taliban's original Islamic Emirate (1996–2001), Shaheen served as Afghanistan's Deputy Ambassador at the Afghan Embassy in Pakistan.

[8] In October 2021, Shaheen rejected American help in fighting the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, saying, "We are able to tackle Daesh independently.

Suhail Shaheen (far right) meeting US representative Zalmay Khalilzad (2nd left) and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (4th left), accompanying Abdul Ghani Baradar and Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai (5th and 6th left)