Afghan president to visit Qatar over Taliban peace talks

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai plans to visit Qatar to hold meetings with Qatari officials regarding peace talks with Taliban.

The Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said on Sunday that Karzai would discuss establishing a Taliban political office in Qatar’s capital, Doha, with Qatari officials.
He added: “President Karzai’s trip is the result of an invitation from the Qatari Emir and will involve discussions about mutual cooperation and the [Taliban] peace process.”
This is while Karzai’s office announced in February that he would not hold talks with the militant group unless Qatar produces a memorandum declaring that the Taliban office would not be used for any “political purpose.”
The Afghan presidential office said: “This office should be used only as an address for talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban… This office should not be used for any other purpose.”
Last year, the Taliban announced reaching a preliminary agreement with Qatar to open a liaison office in the Arab state.
The Afghan president had previously accused foreign powers of “plotting” against the peace process in the war-wracked country.
Karzai, without pointing at any particular country, said in February that he had told the US government during a recent visit to Washington that “no foreign party must try to take the Afghan peace process in its hand.”