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Qatar FM Says Gulf Snub in Afghan Signing Unwise

Qatar expressed disappointment Sunday that nearly all of its Gulf neighbors snubbed invitations to attend the weekend peace signing ceremony between the US and the Taliban.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told The Associated Press in an interview that the presence of Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati officials at Saturday's event in Doha could have been an opportunity to signal unity amid a festering, nearly three-year-old crisis among the Gulf Cooperation Council members that have left Qatar isolated.

"We were hopeful that our GCC brothers and neighbors would join us in yesterday's ceremony," al Thani said. "We invited them for the ceremony, but unfortunately they didn't show up."

Instead, he said their absence showed a continuing "absence of wisdom" among Qatar's neighbors at a time when tensions in the Middle East, especially with Iran, are running high.

Oman was the only GCC member to send its foreign minister.

Notwithstanding difficult negotiations about Afghanistan's future still to come, hosting and facilitating the crucial talks between the Taliban and the US was a diplomatic coup for regionally isolated Qatar.

It helps to strengthen the country's strategic importance, not just as a major gas exporter and host to a sprawling US military base, but also as a US and European ally that can engage with a range of players, like the Taliban.

Saudi Arabia, for its part, welcomed the signing of the peace agreement.

In its statement, it made no mention of Qatar's role, only saying that the agreement helps to restore stability in Afghanistan and benefits the region's security.

American officials had hoped all the Gulf Arab states would participate in the ceremony at which the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal aimed at ending 18 years of war.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who witnessed the signing of the deal, alluded to the Gulf crisis in a separate meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Saturday.

The two discussed "the importance of a united GCC in standing against the Iranian regime's destabilizing activity," according to a US readout of the meeting.

Oman was the lone GCC member to send its foreign minister to the ceremony and Pompeo, who visited Muscat just two weeks ago, made a point of greeting Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi Abdullah at the event.

Despite US encouragement to the other members of the GCC, Al Thani said Qatar had received no response to its invitations, which were sent despite a January breakdown in talks aimed at resolving the crisis.

Asked about the deal signed on Saturday, Al Thani also commented on a prisoner release laid out in the US-Taliban peace agreement, calling it a "critical step" and saying it "will be one of the first confidence-building measures".

Later on Sunday, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with the timetable laid out just a day earlier in the agreement signed by representatives of the Taliban and the US in Qatar.

President Ashraf Ghani's comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.

Qatar FM Says Gulf Snub in Afghan Signing Unwise

Saudi Arabia, for its part, welcomed the signing of the peace agreement.

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Qatar expressed disappointment Sunday that nearly all of its Gulf neighbors snubbed invitations to attend the weekend peace signing ceremony between the US and the Taliban.

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told The Associated Press in an interview that the presence of Saudi, Bahraini and Emirati officials at Saturday's event in Doha could have been an opportunity to signal unity amid a festering, nearly three-year-old crisis among the Gulf Cooperation Council members that have left Qatar isolated.

"We were hopeful that our GCC brothers and neighbors would join us in yesterday's ceremony," al Thani said. "We invited them for the ceremony, but unfortunately they didn't show up."

Instead, he said their absence showed a continuing "absence of wisdom" among Qatar's neighbors at a time when tensions in the Middle East, especially with Iran, are running high.

Oman was the only GCC member to send its foreign minister.

Notwithstanding difficult negotiations about Afghanistan's future still to come, hosting and facilitating the crucial talks between the Taliban and the US was a diplomatic coup for regionally isolated Qatar.

It helps to strengthen the country's strategic importance, not just as a major gas exporter and host to a sprawling US military base, but also as a US and European ally that can engage with a range of players, like the Taliban.

Saudi Arabia, for its part, welcomed the signing of the peace agreement.

In its statement, it made no mention of Qatar's role, only saying that the agreement helps to restore stability in Afghanistan and benefits the region's security.

American officials had hoped all the Gulf Arab states would participate in the ceremony at which the US and the Taliban signed a peace deal aimed at ending 18 years of war.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who witnessed the signing of the deal, alluded to the Gulf crisis in a separate meeting with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha on Saturday.

The two discussed "the importance of a united GCC in standing against the Iranian regime's destabilizing activity," according to a US readout of the meeting.

Oman was the lone GCC member to send its foreign minister to the ceremony and Pompeo, who visited Muscat just two weeks ago, made a point of greeting Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi Abdullah at the event.

Despite US encouragement to the other members of the GCC, Al Thani said Qatar had received no response to its invitations, which were sent despite a January breakdown in talks aimed at resolving the crisis.

Asked about the deal signed on Saturday, Al Thani also commented on a prisoner release laid out in the US-Taliban peace agreement, calling it a "critical step" and saying it "will be one of the first confidence-building measures".

Later on Sunday, Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said that he will not free thousands of Taliban prisoners ahead of all-Afghan power-sharing talks set for next week, publicly disagreeing with the timetable laid out just a day earlier in the agreement signed by representatives of the Taliban and the US in Qatar.

President Ashraf Ghani's comments pointed to the first hitch in implementing the fragile deal, which is aimed at ending America's longest war after more than 18 years and getting rival Afghan factions to agree on their country's future.

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