Qatar Emerges As Central Player In West-Afghan Relationship

Two top members of the Biden administration are headed for Qatar on Sunday to hold talks about the situation in Afghanistan and express gratitude to the Gulf state for its help in evacuating tens of thousands of people fleeing the Taliban takeover.

The visits highlight Qatar’s central position as a global power broker, but also raise questions over the tiny Arab nation’s oversized diplomatic role in a region fraught with geostrategic tensions.

The gas-wealthy emirate, home to 300,000 Qatari citizens and over two million foreign workers, is in the unique position of being a trusted ally of both the US and the Taliban.

It hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East and, at the same time, has given political refuge to Taliban leaders for years.

When the Taliban took over Kabul on August 15, and the US began airlifting out Americans, Afghans and other nationals, Qatar turned into a central transit hub, with some 57,000 of the roughly 124,000 people evacuated passing through it.

President Joe Biden had also phoned Qatar’s leader, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on August 20, to thank him for the country’s role in facilitating intra-Afghan talks and in helping with the evacuation efforts.

“The President noted that this is the largest airlift of people in history and that it would not have been possible without the early support from Qatar,” a White House statement said.

Qatar’s role as a mediator began a decade ago, when the Obama administration sought to end the war in Afghanistan and Doha began hosting peace talks between the US and the Taliban.

In 2014, Qatar also brokered the release of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held as a prisoner by the Taliban for five years and finally released back to the US in exchange for five Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, who were sent to Qatar.