Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Taliban News
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by DXTR corporation
Taliban Flag Is Gone in Qatar, but Talks Remain in Doubt
By ROD NORDLAND and ALISSA J. RUBIN
KABUL, Afghanistan — In a possible easing of tensions that have held up
an opening for peace talks by American, Afghan and Taliban officials in
Qatar, the Afghan government confirmed the complete removal of an
objectionable sign, flag and flagpole that had led the Afghan delegation
to boycott negotiations.
Connect With Us on Twitter
Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines.
Still in question, however, is whether the change would be enough for
Afghanistan to send its official delegation to Qatar, where American and
Taliban officials awaited word.
“According to the timely and appropriate and precise position of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Taliban flag has been brought down
from the office, the Islamic Emirate sign has been removed and the
Qatari police removed the flagpole from the Taliban office,” said a
statement released Sunday by the presidential palace, quoting Masoom
Stanekzai, a senior member of the Afghan High Peace Council.
The statement referred to the signs and flag unveiled when the Taliban
opened their Doha office last week — their first public re-entry on to
the international stage in almost 13 years. At the official opening of
the office the Taliban had put up signs saying “Political Office of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” which is the name they used for their
government when they ran Afghanistan, and they raised their white flag
with black writing.
Both gestures, along with their description of the office’s mandate of
speaking to foreign governments, suggested that the Taliban were trying
to present themselves as an alternative to the Afghan government.
Afghan officials were furious and said they would not send their peace
delegation to Qatar until the signs and flag were removed. Since then
there has been nonstop diplomacy involving senior United States
officials and the Qatari government in an effort to rescue the
not-yet-started peace process, to give it a chance.
“We will work very hard to recover the promise of the office,” said a
Western official in Kabul who is close to the talks.
Although visitors to the Taliban office in Doha noted on Sunday that not
only was the foreshortened flag gone, but also its flagpole, just two
days ago a defiant Taliban official, speaking from Islamabad, said that
the Taliban would keep their own flag and an “Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan” placard on the walls inside the office and that it wasn’t
important that they have them outside where they could be seen by
passers-by.
That could still become an issue, however, if they invite television
cameras inside again — as they did at the opening event last Tuesday.
With the American negotiator James Dobbins in Doha on Sunday and the
flag and signs taken down, the conditions for the first round of
Taliban-American talks were certainly established, but no one would say
whether Mr. Dobbins and the Taliban were talking.
Mr. Dobbins is expected in Kabul on Monday, however, so if he did meet
the Taliban, it was unlikely to have been much more than an introductory
session.
Tags:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 Responses to “Taliban News”
Post a Comment