KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Zabihullah Mujahid, the regime’s chief spokesperson, will lead their delegation at the upcoming UN-hosted Doha meeting.
In a statement on Tuesday, June 25, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the spokesman for the Taliban foreign ministry, stated that this decision was made based on the instruction of the regime’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The ministry has not provided information about the other members of its delegation. According to the statement, a coordination meeting was held today with participation of Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban Foreign Minister, and Zabihullah Mujahid regarding the upcoming UN-led Doha meeting.
Earlier, the head of the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Roza Otunbayeva, expressed hope that the Taliban would send a high-level delegation, specifically hoping that Amir Khan Muttaqi would attend the Doha meeting.
The two-day UN-hosted meeting, involving the Taliban and international envoys from over 25 countries, is set for June 30 in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.
This will be the third session of the UN-led Doha process, and the Taliban have agreed to attend for the first time.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres initiated the Doha process in May of last year with the aim of establishing a unified international approach for engaging with the Taliban.
The UN did not invite the Taliban to the first meeting, and the Taliban refused to participate in the second meeting after their demands to be recognized as the sole representative of Afghanistan and to hold a meeting with the UN chief were rejected.
The UN Chief chaired the previous Doha meetings. However, the upcoming meeting will reportedly be chaired by UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, who recently visited Afghanistan and extended the UN’s invitation to the Taliban authorities.
Previously, women’s rights defenders and rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have criticized the UN for inviting the Taliban to the Doha talks rather than holding them accountable for their crimes against Afghan women and girls.
