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Report on Taleban embassy 'half right'

Dubai - According to American officials quoted at the time, the move was part of a broader American-led effort to facilitate peace negotiations in Afghanistan.

The New York Times was only "half" right in saying that the UAE competed with Qatar to host a Taleban embassy, according to UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba.In an article published on July 31 - and based on Al Otaiba's leaked e-mails - the New York Times alleged that the government of the UAE "tried to get the Taleban to open an embassy in their own country" instead of in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2013. According to American officials quoted at the time, the move was part of a broader American-led effort to facilitate peace negotiations in Afghanistan.According to Ambassador Al Otaiba, the facts reported in the New York Times are only partly factual."At the encouragement of the United States, the United Arab Emirates was prepared to host a Taleban presence in Abu Dhabi," he noted in an opinion piece published on Wednesday. "But, the UAE offer also had firm conditions."The conditions, Al Otaiba wrote, were that the Taleban must denounce Al Qaeda and its founder Osama bin Laden, recognise the Afghan constitution, and renounce violence and lay down their weapons."The Taleban refused all three conditions, and the UAE withdrew its offer," Al Otaiba wrote. "True to form, Qatar imposed no such restrictions, and the Taleban eagerly set up shop in Doha."Al Otaiba went on to say that Doha is "the region's most active financing, ideological and media hub for extremists."Earlier this week, a senior Saudi diplomat accused Qatar of supporting Taleban "armed terrorists".Among the senior members of the Afghan militant group living in Doha are the "Taleban Five", a group of high-level commanders who were exchanged for captive American soldier Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in 2014. American Senator John McCain has described the five as "the hardest of the hardcore."reporters@khaleejtimes.com