Dinner banquet
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser held yesterday a dinner banquet in honour of French President Francois Hollande and First Lady Valerie Trierweiler at Al Wajbah Palace.
Taliban office board, flag ‘still in place’
By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter
Just as US Secretary of State John Kerry warned the Afghan Taliban that their newly opened office in Doha may be shut down if they did not respond to their demands, the spokesperson for the militant group has issued a defiant statement, saying “no body can dictate terms to the Taliban”.
One of the key issues of contention between the Taliban and the opposite sides has been the name of their office in Doha. Mohamed Naeem, a Taliban official in the Doha office was quoted in an interview that nobody could dictate the Taliban to make any change to the nameplate or symbol that they’ve chosen for their bureau.
In the interview of the spokesman published at 4pm on the militant group’s Urdu website Shahamat yesterday, Naeem said that the contentious plaque and flag hoisted at the Taliban office in Doha had driven the Kabul administration “mad.”
He said that the Taliban flag had the words of the Islamic Kalima inscribed on it, and no Muslim could say or do anything against it.
“The flag of the Political Office of Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan) which is based on the Kalima ... remains in its place as it was before.”
He also revealed that the contentious plaque that read ‘Political Office of Islamic Emirate (of Afghanistan)’ has not been changed.
Previously, the nameplate of the office was visibly displayed on the outer wall of the Taliban building . But Naeem said that it has simply been moved to a wall inside.
“The board too has not been changed. It has only been shifted from one wall to another,” he was quoted as saying in the interview.
Just one day after the Taliban Office opened in Doha, the plaque outside the office had disappeared, following strong objections raised by Kabul. Although, a different nameplate was not put in place, the name of the Taliban office was “changed” to ‘Political Bureau of the Afghan Taliban in Doha’ to appease the Karzai government, which had boycotted the peace talks with the US and the Taliban on the issue.
“It is our legal right to put up any board and any symbol we like on our Doha office in Doha because this compound is now the property of the ‘Islamic Emirate [of Afghanistan]’ and nobody has the right to make any variation or change to it,” said Naeem, the chief spokesman of the Taliban Office in Doha.
Also, about talks on exchange of prisoners with the US, the Taliban spokesperson said that these issues would not be immediately discussed because as everybody knew this would be the first time both sides would be meeting at a negotiating table. The first meetings would be introductory in nature.
However, he stressed that talks over prisoners was “very important.” “We will definitely have direct talks on this issue. Our number one priority will be the release of all Afghan prisoners and we want all prisoners held to be released.”
He put the onus of the matter on the Americans and said it remains to be seen how far would they go to get the prisoners released.
Kerry was in Doha to take part in the meeting of the 11-nation Friends of Syria group.
Techno Q launches special promotion
A special prices campaign has been launched at the Techno Q showroom on their complete array of energy efficient lighting solutions and top-of-the-range audio-video equipment suited for residences and offices.
The special prices campaign that will end on July 30 is valid for some of the latest products in decorative indoor and outdoor lighting from Philips, Endon, Brilliant, Massive, Lirio, Eseo and other leading European brands.
Customers can select from a wide range of ultra-modern quality lighting fixtures, elegant pendant luminaires and luxury Murano chandeliers from Italian brands such as Voltolina and Bibi Lighting Inc.
The special prices offer is also extended to select products in home cinema and professional audio-video equipment for powerful audio and visual experiences from brands such as Denon, Audiotechnica, Mackie, Proel, Speakerkraft, Acme Effects, and Road Ready. The showroom is located opposite to the Mercedes showroom on Salwa Road.
Vodafone to carry out maintenance work in Dukhan tomorrow
Vodafone Qatar will carry out maintenance work on its mobile network in Dukhan tomorrow.
Customers living in this area or travelling through it might have problems finding coverage or using the company’s services until 10am.
“Vodafone extends and updates its network regularly.
The maintenance work sometimes makes it necessary to temporarily shut down cell sites for the duration of the upgrade,” the company has said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience caused to users.
