Taliban say agreed to liaison office in Doha

[randolph85]

Taliban say agreed to liaison office in Doha | Pajhwok Afghan News

KABUL (PAN): The Taliban on Tuesday confirmed they had agreed to have a political office in Qatar for peace talks with the Afghan government and the international fraternity.
A Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement said they agreed to have an office outside Afghanistan to initiate a dialogue process with the international community.
"We are right now ready to have a political office overseas, in order to have an understanding with the international community, and in this regard we have reached an initial understanding with Qatar and relevant sites," Mujahid said.
He also called for the release of Taliban prisoners.
"The Islamic Emirate has also asked for the release of the Guantanamo prisoners," the statement said, using the Afghan Taliban's own name for its movement.
As part of the accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy, the United States is considering the transfer of several high-profile Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison into Afghan government custody.
Last month, President Hamid Karzai told Turkish journalists his government would support the US move toward the opening of Taliban's political office in Qatar, saying Turkey or Saudi Arabia remained his government's preferred places for such a liaison point.
The High Peace council said in late December Kabul would accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar, but underlined that no foreign power could get involved in the negotiating process without its consent.

[مهاجره]

thats nice

[Ghundal]

The Taliban come to roost in Qatar

The Taliban come to roost in Qatar

By M K Bhadrakumar – January 3, 2012


The Taliban have reportedly agreed to open a representative office in Qatar. What is unclear is who are these ‘Taliban’. There is deafening silence in Pakistan, which should have been bestir with excitement that a defining moment has been reached in the Afghan endgame. The silence needs to be interpreted.
But given the tenor of the media briefings by the spokesman of the Pakistani military in the last few days, it doesn’t seem that Pakistan is part of this Qatar show, although ISI chief Shuja Pasha did pay a quiet visit to Doha last week. Nor is it likely that the Iranians are in the loop. The Iranian army chief Gen. Ataollah Salehi has just warned the US Fifth fleet not to its depute aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf again. “We advise and insist that this warship not return to its former base in the Persian Gulf.” (USS John C. Stennis, one of America’s biggest warships, is apparently cruising in the Sea of Oman at the moment.)
However, the big question is whether Mullah Omar is part of this Qatar affair. From the latest reports, he seems to be rallying the various Taliban groups to form a united front to launch a renewed offensive against the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Not exactly the kind of thing he should be doing when he is reportedly sitting down to talk? Good question.
So, who are these ‘Taliban’ who are in parleys with the US? Conceivably, they include the folks coming under the rubric of ‘moderate Taliban’ who have been living in Kabul under Hamid Karzai’s lock and key and enjoying state hospitality. In sum, they could be shifting residence from the ’safe houses’ in Kabul to the ’safe houses’ in Doha. Then, there are the interlocutors who pop up as Taliban ‘representatives’. No one is in any position to know who they are or what credentials they enjoy to speak on behalf of the Taliban.
Finally, the question arises whether there is a unified Taliban opposition as such that the Americans can engage. It seems Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s son-in-law is currently camping in Kabul to meet the NATO officials, possibly seeking accommodation in Qatar, while he himself is living in Peshawar.
The crunch time comes when the Taliban’s former commander-in-chief Mullah Mohammed Fazl arrives in Qatar on a long tiring flight with mid-air refuelling from Guantanamo Bay. Mullah Fazl’s ‘reintegration’ into the Afghan jihadi tapestry will need to be skillfully handled.
The guy has a lot of blood on his hands. While living and working in Tashkent, I heard terrible stories about his activities in Mazar-i-Sharif. Such as packs of wild dogs eating up the corpses of hundreds (or thousands) of Hazara Shi’ites including women and children executed there in that horrendous period of August-September 1998.
His metamorphosis as an Islamist politician in a democratic era will be something to watch. That is, if he doesn’t go berserk after having lived in a 2 metre x 1 metre underground cell in Guantanamo Bay for 9 years. How will he take to the sight of the sea? And all the good things in life that Qatar is famous for? This is by far going to be one of the epic stories of the entire Arab Spring.
What is crystal clear is that the Barack Obama administration is in tearing hurry to take peace parleys to some visible point by the time the NATO summit is held in Chicago in May. Or else, it will become increasingly difficult to persuade the Europeans to take any more interest in the war at such a time when their own house is on fire. Their debt repayment liabilities alone in 2012 apparently work out to some 500 billion euros and they can’t afford this war anymore.



Posted in Military, Politics.
Tagged with Guantanamo Bay, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hamid Karzai, Mullah Mohammed Fazl, Mullah Omar, Taliban reconciliation, US Taliban.
By M K Bhadrakumar – January 3, 2012


The Taliban come to roost in Qatar - Indian Punchline

[randolph85]

i think the writer is underestimating the official blessings of the taliban to this office.

here is the taliban spokesman saying he has no official word on the office a few days ago, after a couple of weeks of this being in the news. we both know the taliban are usually quick to respond to news about them.

Taliban Unaware of Qatar Office, Spokesman says

"We haven't been officially informed about the office. For two weeks, we have been hearing about this through the media," Mr Mujahid told TOLOnews. "We are waiting for a response to the conditions [we set out], which we haven't yet received. The Taliban's response regarding the office is still unclear."

now it is confirmed. for the spokesman to make such a huge announcement, he had to of gotten word from the top. i am pretty sure he doesn't get his talking points from the likes of mutawakil or zaeef in kabul.

[faye]

what a pity they didn't have their office in dubai. they could have stayed in the multimillion dollar, beachside villas, owned by members of the afghan government, family and fiends.

[Ghundal]

i think the writer is underestimating the official blessings of the taliban to this office.

here is the taliban spokesman saying he has no official word on the office a few days ago, after a couple of weeks of this being in the news. we both know the taliban are usually quick to respond to news about them.

Taliban Unaware of Qatar Office, Spokesman says



now it is confirmed. for the spokesman to make such a huge announcement, he had to of gotten word from the top. i am pretty sure he doesn't get his talking points from the likes of mutawakil or zaeef in kabul.

MK Bhadrakumar is not always accurate in his articles, but he explains his confusion here.

"However, the big question is whether Mullah Omar is part of this Qatar affair. From the latest reports, he seems to be rallying the various Taliban groups to form a united front to launch a renewed offensive against the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. Not exactly the kind of thing he should be doing when he is reportedly sitting down to talk? Good question. "


I think that the this "political office" is a means for prisoner exchanges and talks to end the war/US presence.

It does not mean that the war has ended, just the beginning of the end- the beginning of talks.

[randolph85]

well its not like the taliban are going to stop fighting while nato is still fighting. advances on the battle field bring leverage, though the real end game will be in negotiations. i think the paki talib deal is more of a sign of weakness that shows that these groups have been divided for so long, and i don't think it will work.

the problem now is the exclusion of the afghan government in these talks.

[Ghundal]

^agreed.

MK Bhadrakumar also suggests that Karzai may follow the example of Nuri Al-Maliki in another article, as he is being ignored. I dont know how accurate of a suggestion that is, and I think he is stretching it, but who knows.

Karzai’s choice of new year gifts - Indian Punchline

"The intriguing part is whether Karzai is learning from Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki. I have been mulling for a full week already over Karzai’s strange interview with the Afghan TV in which he called on Pakistan to have an ‘independent policy’ toward Afghanistan, disengaging itself from the US and based on Pakistan’s legitimate interests. "


^ that is Bhadrakumar's analysis in regards to the China oil deal and the Iranian one, and the interview about Pakistan. According to him, these deals were not welcome in Washington, especially since Iran has been hit with new sanctions.