Qatar urges world not to boycott Taliban

The ruling emir of Qatar, whose nation has played a pivotal role in Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, urged world leaders gathered at the United Nations on Tuesday against turning their backs on the country's Taliban rulers.

Speaking from the podium of the U.N. General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani stressed "the necessity of continuing dialogue with Taliban because boycott only leads to polarization and reactions, whereas dialogue could bring in positive results." His warning was directed at the many heads of state worried about engaging with the Taliban and recognizing their takeover of Afghanistan.

The Taliban say they want international recognition. The group challenged the credentials of Afghanistan's former U.N. ambassador and are asking to speak at the U.N. General Assembly's high-level meeting of world leaders. They say it is the responsibility of the United Nations to recognize their government and for other countries to have diplomatic relations with them.

Senior State Department officials said they were aware of the Taliban's request as the U.S. is a member of the U.N. credentials committee, but they would not predict how that panel might rule. However, one of the officials said the committee "would take some time to deliberate," suggesting that the Taliban's envoy would not be able to speak at the General Assembly at this session, at least during the high-level leaders' week.

To date, no nation has yet formally recognized the Taliban's ascension by force to power or its all-male Cabinet, which is stacked with senior figures who were previously detained in the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba or are on a United Nations sanctions list. The group has said this exclusively Talibanrun Cabinet is only interim, offering hope that a future government could be more inclusive. In the spirit of diplomacy, Sheikh Tamim said Qatar agreed years ago to host the Taliban's political leadership in exile because "we were confident that war offers no solution and that there would be dialogue in the end."

Qatar is a close US ally and hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, but the tiny Gulf Arab state also has some sway with the Taliban. Because of its unique role, Qatar hosted direct US-Taliban talks around the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and helped facilitate evacuations from Kabul.

Now, countries like the U.S. and Japan have relocated their diplomatic staff in

Afghanistan to Qatar to continue diplomacy from there. Qatar is also assisting with the facilitation of needed humanitarian aid and with operations at Kabul airport. Sheikh Tamim on Tuesday urged against repeating past mistakes in Afghanistan "to impose a political system from outside."

"Regardless of intentions, efforts made and money invested, this experience in Afghanistan has collapsed after 20 years," Sheikh Tamim said.

The 41-year-old leader said the international community must continue to support Afghanistan at this critical stage and "to separate humanitarian aid from political differences." Afghanistan is among the world's poorest countries and receives billions of dollars in foreign aid a year, though that could change with the US-backed govt out of power and the Taliban now in charge.