The office is empty and phone are going unanswered at the new office of Afghan's Taliban in Doha in response to the removal of Taliban symbols at the facility according to an unnamed Taliban official.
The office was opened on June 18th, but soon after, the Afghan government objected to the group’s use of the name “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” on their flag and office plaque.
Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai objected to the use of the name and symbol because it was the same name of the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan prior to the arrival of U.S. led troops to the country in 2001. Karzai criticized the use because his country felt that it was an attempt to create the legitimacy of a rival Afghanistan government.
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The Taliban officials quickly removed the symbols, flag and plaque. Taliban officials in response, have left the office and have not yet returned.
Karzai also spoke in opposition to separate peace talks between the Taliban and the U.S.-led coalition and cancelled negotiations concerning leaving in-country troops in Afghanistan after the scheduled 2014 troop removal from that country. Karzai would later, while talking to foreign ambassadors, blame the west for the rise in radical Islamists.
Since that time, relations between Afghanistan and the U.S. had begun to deteriorate. On Tuesday, rumblings in Washington have been heard and it is reported that President Obama is considering a “Zero Option,” meaning the removal of all troops from Afghanistan in 2014. This developing stance came about after a June 27th video conference with Afghanistan’s president that ended badly.
If a complete pull-out of U.S. troops occurs in 2014, the other two main European nations committed to supplying troops, Germany and Italy, will no doubt follow suit.
Along with a complete withdrawl of troops, at stake will be the $8 billion given to Afghanistan annually for humanitarian and military needs. That amount is roughly half of what Afghanistan spends yearly.
There is no word as to if and when the Taliban will re-open its offices in Doha.