DOHA: Afghan President Hamid Karzai was in Qatar on Saturday to discuss the opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf state for peace negotiations that could end more than a decade of war.
Karzai was welcomed at the airport by Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Abdullah al-Attiyah, the Gulf state’s official QNA news agency said, without giving any further details on his talks schedule.
Until earlier this year, Karzai was opposed to the extremist militants having a meeting venue in Doha as he feared that his government would be frozen out of any negotiations.
The militants refuse to have direct contact with Karzai, saying he is a puppet of the United States, which supported his rise to power after the military operation to oust the Taliban in 2001.
But, with Nato-led combat troops due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Karzai agreed to the proposed Taliban office in the Qatari capital Doha and is expected to firm up the plan with the emir of Qatar on Sunday.
