New York Times: Persian Gulf Rivals Competed to Host Taliban, Leaked Emails Show
LONDON — In their long-running rivalry, the United Arab Emirates has often accused its neighbor Qatar of abetting Islamist militants, citing as one prime example the 2013 opening of a Taliban embassy in the Qatari capital, Doha.
Now it turns out that the Emiratis tried to get the Taliban to open an embassy in their own country instead. The Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, even received “an angry phone call” from the foreign minister at the time complaining that the Taliban had ended up in Qatar and not the U.A.E., according to leaked emails from the ambassador’s account.
The leaks are the latest salvo in a two-month-old feud among the Persian Gulf neighbors that has divided Washington’s allies in the fights against the Islamic State and Iran. In June, the U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt cut off trade and diplomatic relations with Qatar as punishment for what they said was its support of Islamist extremism. Qatar, the site of the largest American air base in the region, charged that Saudi Arabia and the Emirates were inventing a pretext to bully their neighbor.
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WNU Editor: The Taliban appear to favour Qatar .... Afghan Taliban: Qatar plays major role in peace talks (Al Jazeera). This competition to host the Taliban also makes complaints on how Qatar treats the Taliban difficult to accept .... Qataris must stop spoiling their Taliban guests if they are serious about their pledges to the US (Con Coughlin, The National).
More News On Reports That The Persian Gulf States Were Competing Against Qatar To Host The Taliban
UAE Lobbied US To Host Taliban Embassy Instead of Gulf Rival Qatar, Hacker Group Global Leaks Reveals -- Newsweek
Leaks: ‘UAE wanted to host the Taliban’s embassy instead of Qatar’ -- Middle East Monitor
Doha’s Taliban links are worrying -- Gulf News
Former CIA official: Qatar has ties with terrorist groups -- Al Arabiya
