Taliban urges Qatar to invest in Afghanistan, take steps to improve relations

Taliban has urged Qatar to invest in Afghanistan and requested them to take steps for the improvement of relations between the international community and Afghanistan.

According to the TOLO News, Taliban's spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that officials of the Afghan interim government in their meeting with the Qatari delegation urged them to invest in Afghanistan.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who arrived in Kandahar this week, met with Taliban officials where this demand was pressed.

"We asked Qatar for their continued cooperation and to take influential steps in diplomacy to eliminate the concerns and doubts existing in some countries," Mujahid said.

"If the international community wants to improve its relations with the Taliban via Qatar, I think the major influence of Qatar cannot be ignored and they may help the Taliban in the improvement of their relations," said Nematullah Bizhan, a political analyst.

This comes as Qatar's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Prime Minister of Qatar spoke with US Secretary Antony Blinken and discussed bilateral relations and the situation in Afghanistan, reported Tolo News.

Qatar hosted the fragile peace negotiations between the US and then Islamic Emirate's political office that also resulted in a peace deal between the US and Taliban, reported Tolo News.

Qatar has longstanding ties with the Taliban. The country's main interest is to cement its position as a regional mediator.

The relationship between Qatar and the Taliban is anything but new. As early as 2013, Qatar allowed the Taliban to open an office in Doha, with the support of the US administration under Barack Obama.

At the time, the US was looking for a neutral place to negotiate with the Islamist militia in order to prepare for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Since 2018, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is one of the founding members of the Taliban, has led its representation in Qatar.