Taliban in Qatar
The original purpose for being there was to open an office that would facilitate political reconciliation between the Taliban, the government of Afghanistan, the United States and other countries.
[6][7] President Ashraf Ghani, having fled the country to either Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, emerged in the UAE and said that he supported such negotiations and was in talks to return to Afghanistan.
[citation needed] For years prior to 2010, the U.S. and Afghan governments had trouble locating senior leaders of the Taliban, whom they sought out as part of the effort to begin the process of American withdrawal from Afghanistan.
[11] The Afghan government initially wanted to open an office for the Taliban, providing protection for the leaders, in Saudi Arabia or Turkey, due to the countries’ good ties with Kabul.
[11] In 2011, as part of the U.S. strategy to pull out of Afghanistan, American officials began holding talks with a handful of Afghans who represented the Taliban.
[12] In agreeing to these mediated discussions, the Afghan government had hopes that they could turn the Taliban from a militant organization into a political one in order to curb violence and maintain peace.
[16] The Taliban's political office was unofficially established in Doha in January 2012,[17] with the arrival of representatives including Tayyab Agha, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai and Shahabuddin Delawar, who were said to be "well-educated, fluent in English and considered moderate, but committed to the movement", plus spokesperson Suhail Shaheen.
However, there was an immediate issue, as the Taliban flag was raised and a plaque at the entrance identified it as an office of the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" (the Taliban-era name for the country).
[1][19] Afghan president Karzai halted peace talks claiming that the Taliban were presenting their office as the embassy of a government in exile.
[22] Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says that the Taliban 5 are "no doubt, a threat" and a "real risk.
"[25] In August 2015, the head of the office, Tayyab Agha, resigned, citing "internal factional struggles to seize control of the leadership."
"[26] Learning of the power vacuum that was created by Omar's death, Agha departed, arguing that all sides of the Taliban should regulate their affairs from inside Afghanistan.
[26] Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai became the acting head of the office the day after Agha resigned, and in November he was permanently appointed to the position,[29] with Abdul Salam Hanafi as his deputy.
"[34] On 5 June 2017, a quartet composed of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.
[35] The main reason cited for the severing of links was Qatar's alleged financing and hosting of Islamic extremist groups, including the Taliban.
[41] In July 2013, the Huffington Post published an article expressing fear regarding the fact that high-ranking members were living with impunity in Qatar.
[13] The details of the Taliban 5 negotiations were kept from the U.S. senators on Capitol Hill and many politicians registered statements of outrage over the decisions being made by the Obama administration.
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar is, allegedly, keeping the former prisoners (the Taliban 5) in comfort so that he can play both side of the fence by gaining credit in Washington through taking Guantanamo Bay prisoners off their hands, as well as gaining the favor of regional Islamists who see the Emir as supporting Islamic movements like the Taliban.
[43] UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Qatar Charity (QC) signed a Letter of Intent on an Islamic Philanthropy Collaboration in March 2023.
Three Zakat cooperation agreements were also signed, amounting to QAR 18,206,369 (just over US$5 million) to help address the urgent needs of over 50,000 forcibly displaced families in Afghanistan.
[47][48] Listed in their demands were: the release of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners and the removal of senior members from the United Nations blacklist.
[50] In the context of the Doha Dialogue, Taliban leaders promised that, if their conditions were met, they would respect women's rights and ensure modern education for all, including girls.
