Qatar was apparently trying to convince the Taliban to halt its offensive as the militant group’s forces advanced on the gates of Kabul after capturing the eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday.
The Taliban of 2021 look very different, on TV news clips, from the Taliban of the late 1990s. Now, they look a disciplined legion of well-fed, well-to-do fighters on a mission to take over the governance of country.
And why wouldn't they look smug and self-satisfied? Their organization is flush with funds as everyone knows from Qatar's thick fat wallet.
The number of Taliban representatives and their activities in Qatar have gradually increased. There are now more than 20 relatively high-ranking Taliban members who live here with their families.
There are about 6,000 Afghan laborers and businessmen who live in Doha. Several Taliban leaders occasionally seen driving, walking the streets, or inside shopping centers and mosques. They live in Doha in comfortable homes all paid by the Qataris.
The Afghan government was keen on opening an office for the Taliban in Turkey or Saud Arabia, because it thought those countries were more influential and had a closer working relationship with Kabul. But the Taliban's preferred venue was Qatar because they considered it a safe haven for terrorist groups.
Qatar was not one of the three countries - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates - which recognized the Taliban regime in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. But according to a former Taliban foreign ministry official, it did have "cordial" relations with the militants.
After the Taliban regime was toppled, its leaders did not have a place of refuge. But several high-ranking figures sought asylum in Qatar.
Qatar, the tiny but wealthy Sunni Muslim Gulf state, has become famous for punching above its weight. It became a household name when it started the famous al-Jazeera television network.
It also got involved in a number of international crises as a mediator - including the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region and the rift between the Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas. And it has been involved actively in the Arab Spring uprisings, supporting the armed rebellions in Libya and Syria.
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