The Taliban’s head of political office in Doha, Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, has expressed disappointment at not being invited to the UN hosted closed-door meeting being convened in the city.
Shaheen, who is also the group’s designated ambassador to the UN, told KabulNow that any gathering without the group’s participation will not yield any results.
Any decision taken at the Doha meeting will be one-sided and will be difficult to implement.
“We have a right to put forward our point of view at international forums, and whether one agrees or disagrees is another matter,” Shaheen said.
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Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson, told Al Jazeera that “Any meeting about Afghanistan without the participation of the Afghan government is ineffective and counterproductive.”
The Doha meeting, attended by representatives of at least 25 countries and aid organisations, comes amid growing concerns among many inside and outside Afghanistan about the UN’s role in the country and its engagement with the Taliban.
