Washington: This month, the Qatari prime minister met in secret with the Taliban supreme leader to discuss easing tension with the outside world, according to a source briefed on the conversation. This encounter appeared to indicate a new openness on the part of the Afghan government to talk about methods to break their isolation.
The meeting between Haibatullah Akhunzada and Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani on May 12 in Kandahar is the first one that is known to have taken place between the secretive Taliban leader and 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 Taliban has been put under pressure from the US to allow girls to go to school, allow women to return to their jobs, and allow Afghans who are not Taliban members to serve in 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.