Washington: State Secretary Antony Blinken said Friday that Qatar’s Gulf State had agreed to represent American interests in Afghanistan after the closing of the US Embassy at the end of August.
Blinken said Qatar would function as “protecting power” for the United States in Afghanistan managed by the Taliban, a step that showed Biden administration had a slight confidence that it would reopen the embassy in the near future.
Qatar will form a share of US interest in his own embassy in Kabul to provide consular and other services to American citizens in Afghanistan, said Blinken.
Qatar will also assume responsibility for the security and protection of US diplomatic facilities which are now empty in the Afghan capital.
The US has many power agreements that protect in countries where it does not have a diplomatic representation.
It mainly includes Switzerland in Iran, Sweden in North Korea and the Czech Republic in Syria.
Qatar has become a key player in discussions between Taliban and the United States for years.
This hosts the months of the Taliban peace talks and since it was very important for the evacuation of Americans and others from Afghanistan.
Of the more than 124,000 Americans, residents remained legitimate and at risk of Afghanistan who left Afghanistan, about half of them traveling through Qatar on the US military plane and Qatar Charter, Blinken said.
Qatar agreed to represent US interests in Afghanistan
