Qatar May Struggle To Deliver The New-Look Taliban It Hyped

Qatar's ties to the Taliban and other Islamist groups have long been a source of tension with its neighbors and concern for its Western allies.

As the Taliban closed in on Kabul and tens of thousands of people overwhelmed its airport, it was the small Gulf state of Qatar that first opened its doors to evacuees, fast establishing itself as the West's main line of communication to an organization best known for harboring Osama bin Laden. The US and UK have since moved their Afghanistan embassies to Doha, its critical role lauded by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin -- both visiting this week. Yet a relationship painstakingly nurtured over the past decade could quickly become a liability for Qatar if it fails to deliver the world the new-look Taliban it's tried to nurture; one that's more hospitable to women and less hospitable to terrorists on the run. Qatar's ties to the Taliban and other Islamist groups have long been a source of tension with its neighbors and concern for its Western allies. Caught out by the almost immediate collapse of the US-backed government as the last American troops left, Western powers had few other means of contacting the Taliban's political representatives. Qatar's reveled in hosting talks with the Taliban, complete with big backdrops and dramatic lighting, and has gained the trust of its political leaders. Some 500 to 600 Taliban members with their families have lived in cosmopolitan Doha, according to a Gulf-based diplomat. They include Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the political wing, who has held talks among the skyscrapers, in five-star hotels where Qatar's modesty rules aren't strictly observed.