Qatar to Represent U.S. Interests in Afghanistan, Blinken Says

WASHINGTON — The tiny Middle Eastern federation of Qatar volition service arsenic a diplomatic proxy for the United States successful Afghanistan, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said connected Friday, representing American interests and helping to process visas for thousands of radical who are looking to fly Taliban control.

Qatar for years has been a cardinal go-between successful the delicate narration betwixt the Taliban and the American invaders who unsuccessfully waged a 20-year warfare to destruct it. The Persian Gulf federation has hosted diplomatic negotiations betwixt the 2 sides to extremity the warfare and has received much than 60,000 radical from Afghanistan aft the Taliban seized powerfulness successful August.

The United States does not see the Taliban’s authorities arsenic morganatic and closed the U.S. Embassy successful Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, during the frantic evacuation. Under the caller agreement, Qatar volition presume immoderate American diplomatic duties successful Afghanistan, including what Mr. Blinken described arsenic consular services and keeping ticker implicit the conditions and information of abandoned U.S. facilities.

The statement was announced connected Friday arsenic portion of an yearly strategical acme betwixt the United States and Qatar, and “the events successful Afghanistan implicit the past respective months person reinforced that partnership, including connected the astir delicate and urgent issues,” Mr. Blinken said.

American and Taliban officials proceed to meet, including astir precocious in Pakistan connected Thursday to sermon the humanitarian situation that threatens to engulf Afghanistan arsenic wintertime approaches. And past month, the State Department’s caller envoy for Afghan policy, Thomas West, met with Taliban diplomats successful Doha, the Qatari capital.

Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani of Qatar said his federation would “continue to beryllium an instrumentality of bid and stableness successful the region” and noted, arsenic a apical priority, the continuing discussions with the Taliban to guarantee that humanitarian assistance was delivered to needy Afghans.

“We judge that abandoning Afghanistan volition beryllium a large mistake, and ignoring it, due to the fact that isolation has ne'er been an answer, oregon solution, for immoderate issue,” Mr. al-Thani said. “Engagement is the lone mode forward.”

Similar diplomatic proxy arrangements successful which the United States asks a 3rd enactment to service arsenic a alleged protecting powerfulness successful an adversarial federation person led to secretive back-channel discussions connected delicate topics. Switzerland, for example, has served arsenic a protecting powerfulness for U.S. interests successful Iran, including acting arsenic a go-between to unafraid the merchandise of hostages.

It was not wide Friday if that is portion of what Qatar would beryllium doing for the United States successful Kabul, fixed that American and Taliban diplomats are already connected speaking terms.

The caller statement besides formalizes a relation that Qatar has been playing since August: allowing Afghans with peculiar U.S. migrant visas and different exile permissions to unrecorded connected an American subject basal extracurricular Doha arsenic they hold for information clearance to participate the United States. In caller weeks, Qatar’s authorities has begun requiring Afghans to person a passport oregon different authoritative question documents to participate the country, successful opposition to the tens of thousands of radical who were evacuated successful August, galore of them without immoderate identification.

Understand the Taliban Takeover successful Afghanistan

Mr. al-Thani called the passport requirements “mainly a information measure,” but said exceptions would beryllium allowed.

Mr. Blinken said that 380 American citizens and 280 ineligible U.S. residents had been evacuated from Afghanistan since Sept. 1, aft the American military completed its withdrawal. All remaining Americans successful Afghanistan who person expressed involvement successful leaving person been contacted and fixed the accidental to bash so, helium said.

He did not accidental however galore of those radical had declined a formation out, describing it arsenic “an incredibly wrenching determination to leave, to springiness up everything.”