Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

On Taliban’s Office in Qatar

Afghanistan has summoned its ambassador, Khaled Ahmad Zakaria, to Qatar for consultation. It is said that this is because Qatar is in discussion with Taliban to establish its political office in that country. Afghan government has kept the door to Taliban's return to normal life open over the last few years.

Afghan people, political parties and civil society organizations are also ready to welcome and embrace the Taliban militants and other insurgent groups back to the fold provided that they announce their willingness to come back and live in an open and tolerant society regulated by the current constitution and committed to human rights and women rights and gender equality. In fact, almost all parties and people in the country accept the idea of peace-making with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Afghan government seems to be willing to accept establishment of Taliban's political office in Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But it is against the opening of any office for Taliban in any other country. There is a reason for this.

If Taliban open their office in any oil-rich countries they wish, they may just use the opportunity to expand their network and connection with other extremist and hard-line groups operating in those countries and thereby recruit more suicide attackers and terrorists.

This will produce counter-productive results and instead of contributing to bringing them to negotiation table, this will provide them with an opportunity to find them in a cozy environment conducive to extremist propaganda, mobilizing funding resources and brainwashing youths for coming into Afghanistan to blow things up and kill people.

In the meanwhile, such a move can be acceptable after Taliban militants reduce their terrorist attacks and break links with regional and trans-regional destructive forces and elements. After it is ensured that they are just a pure Afghan group willing to work with Afghan government and its international supporters to bring the ongoing conflict to an end, then they could be accommodated in Turkey where they could be controlled to get them prepared for ceasing to serve foreign elements and stopping their terrorist attacks and returning to the fold.

Islamic countries must view Taliban as an insurgent force that continues to carry out mass disruption, mass destruction and mass killing activities in Afghanistan and must be out of equation. Afghan government must strictly deal with any country that sees Taliban otherwise. Afghanistan must be viewed as a unified country with a state. Accommodating terrorist groups that continue to attack this country will be considered an enmity with Afghan people.