Qatar urges international community to let Afghans decide their future

Doha: As the Taliban announced a provisional government in Afghanistan amid apprehensions from global community over its model of governance, Qatar which played a negotiator role between Taliban leadership, the US and other countries said that it is up to the people of Afghan to decide who should govern them, not the international community.

In an interview given to the AFP, Qatari Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah al-Khater has praised the Taliban's pragmatism in realising power deal, terming it great and urged the international community to judge Taliban rulers, who by now became undisputed rulers of Afghanistan, by their actions.

Al-Khater, who said we should let Afghans determine their future, however, declined to comment whether Qatar fully recognises the new leadership under the Taliban.

Khater, Qatar's spokeswoman on the world stage, alluded to the evacuation process in Kabul during which thousands of people were able to leave the country, and to the Taliban's pragmatic approach, which would not have been possible without their cooperation.

Meanwhile, the US expressed its concerns over the newly declared government by the Taliban for finding no woman representation. Though the set-up is only a caretaker or transitional government, a State Department spokesman is reported to have said that it will judge the Taliban only by its actions, not by its words.

Calls from Western countries and NGOs for the group to respect the rights of women and minorities have mounted in the days since their shock August 15 takeover of Kabul.

Doha was the central intermediary between the Taliban, who opened a political office in Qatar in 2013, and the international community including Washington up until the Islamist group completed their lightning takeover of Afghanistan.