Top Qatar diplomat arrives in Kabul
Qatar's Foreign Minister and deputy premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani arrives in Kabul airport for a brief visit, making him the most senior diplomat to visit the country since the Taliban's takeover on August 15.
A Taliban official tweeted that Sheikh Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has met senior officials of the new Afghan regime, although details of their talks were not disclosed.
The group also released pictures of Sheikh Mohammad meeting new Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund.
Qatar has long acted as a mediator on Afghanistan, hosting the Taliban’s talks with the United States under former US president Donald Trump, and then with the now deposed Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani.
It is also supporting tens of thousands of Afghans who were evacuated in the final weeks of the US-led occupation as they are processed before heading to other nations.
No country has yet formally recognized the new Taliban government — and only three did during the first rule of the hardline Islamists in 1996-2001.
