Taliban hope Qatar’s future role remains ‘effective’

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff ReporterThe Afghan Taliban is “hopeful that the role of Qatar government will be effective as well in the future,” a senior leader based in Doha has said.Maulvi Nek Mohamed, senior member of the Taliban political office and Rehbar Shura (Leadership Council) in Doha, made the remarks in a Pashto-language interview recently, which was released after five Taliban leaders were set free from Guantanamo Bay on June 1 and transferred to Qatar. Under a prisoner exchange deal between the US and the Taliban, the leaders who had been detained for 13 years, were handed over to a delegation from Qatar on May 31. At the exact time, American soldier Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, held captive by the Taliban since June 2009, was handed over to a US Special Forces team in Khost, Afghanistan.Another senior Afghan Taliban source has also confirmed to Gulf Times the contents of Pashto-language interview, which gives background details of the indirect talks held between the US and the Taliban with the help of Qatar.Mohamed praised the role of the State of Qatar in making the prisoner swap deal a reality that saw the release of Taliban leaders, Mohamed Fazl Akhund, Noorulallah Noori, Khairullah Khairkhuwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Maulvi Mohamed Nabi Omari, who now live in Doha.“Qatar government played a constructive role [in the prisoner swap deal] on the basis of its humanitarian principles because of which the prisoners got released,” he pointed out.Mohamed also suggested that Qatar could play a ‘good role’ as a mediator to solve other problems of Afghanistan as well. It is unclear when more talks will be held between the US and Afghan Taliban. At the moment, the Obama-led administration is facing a lot of flak in its home base for the prisoner exchange, which could make further Afghan Taliban releases from Guantanamo a challenge. The Taliban, however, sounded a hopeful note about Qatar’s future role in any such negotiations.“We are hopeful that the role of Qatar government in future will be effective as well,” Mohamed added.The senior Afghan Taliban official also clarified that Afghanistan and Pakistan governments had no clue whatsoever about the prisoner swap. “Only the Taliban, US and Qatari officials knew about it. We had decided among ourselves earlier that until the prisoner exchange is complete, nobody would be informed till the very last day. Afghanistan and Pakistan governments got to know about it only through the media like everybody else,” he said.Giving details of the background of indirect talks that resulted in the release of five prisoners, the Taliban political office member said that the head of the Taliban political office in Doha, Tayyab Aga, had received directions from their supreme leader Mullah Omar around six months ago to reopen talks with the US. Aga himself is said to have been the one that had been tasked with making the first such contact in 2010.  Tayab Aga then discussed these instructions with members of the Doha Taliban political office and decided to form a six-member team led by him to lead the talks. This team included Shiekhul Hadees Maulvi Syed Rasul, member political office; Qari Deen Mohamed Hanif, member political office and Rahbar Shura (Leadership Council) member; Maulvi Abdus Salaam Hanifi, member political office and Rahbar Shura member; Sohail Shaheen, member political office; Hajji Mohamed Zahid Ahmadzi, member political office and Rahbar Shura member; and Maulvi Nek Mohamed, member political office and Rahbar Shura, member.“Initially, it was decided that direct talks with the US would be held. But later, because of certain complications of the political situation, we decided that we should hold indirect talks, with Qatar acting as intermediary,” he said.Maulvi Nek Mohamed is said to be from Helmand province in Afghanistan. He reportedly worked as deputy commerce minister and senior education department official when the Taliban were in power in Afghanistan. He is now one of the senior Taliban officials posted at its political office in Qatar.