Taliban peace was prerequisite for office in UAE
The UAE was prepared to host a Taliban office, but withdrew the offer when the group refused to denounce Al Qaeda and give up violence.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s Ambassador to Washington, said the offer to host a Taliban presence in Abu Dhabi was “at the encouragement of the United States” but was based on three firm conditions.
The offer was made as the US sought to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
After the UAE withdrew the offer, Qatar stepped in, without the conditions, and the office opened in Doha in 2013, the ambassador said.
In a letter to The New York
Times, Mr Al Otaiba spelt out the three conditions. Firstly, “the Taliban must denounce Al Qaeda and its founder, Osama bin Laden”; second, “the Taliban must recognise the Afghan constitution”; and finally, “the Taliban must renounce violence and lay down their weapons”.
Mr Al Otaiba wrote that the “Taliban refused all three conditions, and the UAE withdrew its offer”.
The letter was in response to a The New York Times article last month that claimed the “UAE competed with Qatar in 2013 to host the Taliban embassy”.
The article was based on emails hacked from Mr Al Otaiba’s account by a pro-Qatari group.
The article said “the Emiratis tried to get the Taliban to open an embassy in their own country instead [of Qatar]” and was disappointed with the militant group choosing Doha as a base for its office.
Mr Al Otaiba said the paper “had only half the story about how the Taliban came to call Qatar their second home”.
“True to form, Qatar imposed no restrictions, and the Taliban eagerly set up shop in Doha,” he said.
The UAE Ambassador described Doha as “the region’s most active financing, ideological and media hub for extremists”.
The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, has severed diplomatic ties with Qatar and launched an economic boycott over what the four countries say is Doha’s support for terrorist groups.
They accuse Qatar of hosting extremist figures, financiers and organisations, several of which are included on US and UN terrorist designation lists.
The four Arab countries have highlighted the presence of the Taliban mission in Doha as an example of Qatar’s support for extremist groups.
Kuwait is leading mediation efforts to resolve the Qatar crisis, which erupted on June 5.
After the UAE withdrew the offer, Qatar stepped in, without the conditions, and the Taliban office opened in Doha in 2013