Taliban move to open Qatar embassy 'unacceptable'

A prominent member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council said that his country will not accept the opening of a political office for the Taliban in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar under the title of "Islamic Emirate Embassy". "The opening of Taliban's office in Qatar under the name of the embassy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is against Afghanistan's national interests and is never acceptable," Advisor to the International Relations Commission of Afghanistan's High Peace Council Mohammad Ismail Qassemyar told FNA in Kabul on Monday. As regards the upcoming visit to Qatar by an Afghan delegation, Qassemyar said that the Kabul government expects the delegation to prepare the grounds for peace talks among Afghans and assure that the Taliban office would not run counter to Afghanistan's national interests politically and legally. Afghanistan's foreign minister will head a delegation to Qatar in the near future and the delegation will also include members of the peace council. Earlier in January, Taliban announced that they had struck a deal to open a political office in Qatar that could allow for direct negotiations. Some analysts are skeptical of the prospects for meaningful peace negotiations with the Taliban. A senior Afghan political figure stressed the failure of the so-called peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar as well as Saudi Arabia's efforts in pushing the Taliban leadership ahead, and underlined that the Taliban has maintained its belligerent nature and aspirations and is the same group as it was before 2001. "The growing number of suicide attacks shows that the Taliban has the same 'Islamic Emirate' in mind and is seeking to overthrow the existing system," Afghan opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah said in an interview with FNA last month. "That is what it had sought before 2001 (when it was ousted from power)," the former Afghan foreign minister stated, adding that the group enjoys the same supporters as it had before. He rejected the necessity for the establishment of a Taliban office in Doha or any other place outside Afghanistan. Abdullah further stressed the necessity for negotiations with Taliban for the establishment of peace, and added, "We want negotiations with Taliban under the supervision of the United Nations and on Afghan soil."