Cairo: Qatar’s foreign minister held talks with the Taliban-ruled Afghan Prime Minister on Sunday, during a foreign visit to Kabul since the militant group seized the capital last month.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani asked the country’s new ruler to “involve all Afghan parties in national reconciliation” when he met Mullah Prime Minister Muhammad Hasan Akhund, the Qatar Foreign Ministry said.
Qatar is considered as one of the countries with the greatest influence on the Taliban and plays an important role in a large US airlift from its own citizens, other Western citizens and Afghanistan who help western countries.
Capital Qatar Doha also hosted the Taliban political office, which oversaw negotiations with the United States which eventually led to the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Sheikh Mohammed and New Prime Minister Akhund also discussed “joint efforts to combat terrorist organizations that threaten Afghan stability”, how to increase peace in the country and explore the people, according to the Qatar Ministry.
Sheikh Mohammed met with the Prime Minister and a number of other senior ministers, said a Taliban spokesman.
“The meeting focuses on bilateral relations, humanitarian assistance, economic development and interaction with the world,” according to the Taliban.
Sunday’s meeting at the Presidential Palace was attended by a number of other Afghan ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, Defense Minister Yaqoob Mujahid, Minister of Home Affairs Sirajuddin Haqqani and Abdul Haq intelligence head.
Taliban said the leadership of the Islamic Emirates, the term used by the group to describe a new order in Afghanistan, thanked the Qatar government to support the Afghan people.
The Doha Agreement, signed by the United States and the Taliban, is “important achievements, all parties must comply with the implementation”, added the Taliban.
Sheikh Mohammed Qatar also met Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the previous Afghan government, and former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.