Accord creates a path for the US to gradually withdraw from Afghanistan and potentially end the 18-year conflict
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference after a signing ceremony between members of Afghanistan's Taliban delegation and US officials in Doha, Qatar, February 29 2020. Picture: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM AL OMARI
“Qatar has been an enormously important partner to get us to this very moment. When we’ve had hiccups in the road they have helped us smooth them out,” US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told reporters after the signing ceremony in Doha on Saturday. In 2017 Trump initially appeared to side with Saudi Arabia and its allies when they severed ties with Qatar over allegations it supports terrorism and is cosying up to regional foe Iran.Doha denies the charges and says the political, trade and travel embargo imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt since mid-2017 aims to curtail its sovereignty.
“I think now global actors know where to go if they want conflicts resolved in our region,” Qatar assistant foreign minister Lolwah Rashid Al Khater told reporters on Saturday. “We thought if we succeeded in those two points we can save the process and bring the parties to the negotiating table again, and that’s what we did in November,” he told Saturday’s news briefing.
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