ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan National Security Adviser Hanif Atmar has said in reported comments that his government has started talks with Qatar to close Taliban political office in the oil-rich Gulf state as he thinks the office has'”not facilitated peace negotiations’.
Frustration of the Kabul administration at the Taliban’s unwillingness to join the intra-Afghan dialogue is genuine, but Mr Atmar’s remarks could be seen as a deviation from the Afghan leaders’ longstanding quest for a Taliban address that is available in Doha.
Afghan government needs to take confidence building measures to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiation table.
Recognition of the Taliban political office will be one of the major CBMs. Similarly, Taliban should also show seriousness towards the political process as their fighting sheds Afghan blood, and their attacks inflict huge damage to the country.
Closure of the office means a move to put up the shutters on political process and leaving the lone option of war open. Every security assessment report, including those recently released by the American watchdog SIGAR and the BBC show that the Taliban now control more areas and are active in nearly 70 percent of Afghanistan.
The closure of the office in Doha will weaken the government’s claim of seeking reconciliation just days ahead of a key meeting of the ‘Kabul Process’, which will be attended by nearly 30 countries, the UN and international organizations. Peace and reconciliation with the Taliban is one of the major items on the agenda, according to a Pakistani official, who is privy to the process and attended the first meeting the Kabul Process in June last year.
If the office is closed, Kabul will deprive several countries of interaction with the political envoys, and insurgents will use it as a propaganda tool that the government has closed doors for reconciliation.
Taliban had freed lone US soldier Bowe Bergdahl in 2014 after nearly six-month secret talks through Qatar office in a swap for the release of five senior Taliban Guantanamo prisoners.
In January, the Taliban confirmed that their five political negotiators from Qatar office traveled to Pakistan to discuss options for peace process. The statement had also mentioned that political envoys shared proposals with the leadership about talks with Pakistan, China and Qatar. Diplomats from several countries, including China, Russia, Japan, European countries and UN have been visiting the Qatar office since it has been opened. International aid organizations coordinate their activities, especially visits of their officials to the Taliban-controlled areas with the Taliban political representatives in Qatar.
The Taliban had opened the office in 2013, but the Qatari government closed it just days later over objections by then President Hamid Karzai on the plea that the Taliban used their white flag and plaque of the Islamic Emirate, the name they had used during 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan. Although the office was closed, the Taliban political envoys remained stationed in Qatar. Taliban officials familiar with the opening of the office told Daily Times earlier that they opened office in Qatar after over a year of consultations with the United States and the Afghan government.
Opening of the office in Qatar was Taliban’s own choice, and it approved by then Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar, according to Taliban officials. Taliban had other options available to open office but they preferred Qatar as it had not been involved in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
Hours after Afghan media reported Atmar’s statement on the possible closure of the Taliban office earlier last week, a senior US official in Kabul said he was unaware of any such move.
“I am not familiar with the closing of that office or anything around that either. Sorry.”
Atmar’s statement came days after Taliban in an open letter to the American people and Congressmen offered peace negotiations to the Trump’s administration.
On January 30, Trump had ruled out talks with the Taliban and declared to ‘finish’ them after a string of Taliban-claimed attacks killed nearly 125 people and injured about 300 others in Kabul.
This is not the first time that calls have been made to shut the Taliban office. The Guardian reported in October last year that US President Donald Trump was pushing Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to close a Taliban mission in Qatar. The Taliban had angrily reacted to the reports that any such move would kills chances of political process. “In 2013, a Political Office for negotiations was officially inaugurated in the Qatari capital of Doha following a series of meetings with American officials. But before any negotiations could commence, Kabul again protested under excuse of office name and flag and the US accepted their view,” the Taliban said, while commenting on reports about details of the Trump-Ghani meeting in September. The statement issued by the Taliban office in Qatar said that opening of the political office was a message to those ‘invading countries’ who accused the Taliban of lacking a programme and intention towards finding a peaceful solution and due to their concentration on war.
Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2018.
