Won’t take responsibility for Kabul airport without clear agreement, Qatar warns Taliban

Doha, (Qatar):  Qatar warned on Tuesday that it would not take responsibility for Kabul airport without “clear” agreements with all involved, including the Taliban, about its operations.

Doha has become a key broker in Afghanistan following last month’s withdrawal of US forces, helping evacuate thousands of foreigners and Afghans, engaging the new Taliban rulers and supporting operations at Kabul airport. “We need to make sure that everything is addressed very clearly otherwise… we are not able to take any responsibility of the airport (if) all these things are not addressed,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said at a press briefing. “Right now the status is still (under) negotiation.” Since the US pullout, Qatar Airways planes have made several trips to Kabul, flying in aid and Doha’s representatives and ferrying out foreign passport holders. The two-decade US intervention in Afghanistan ended with the hurried airlift of more than 120,000 people from Kabul as the Taliban returned to power. The United States pulled its final troops out of Afghanistan on August 30, ending its longest war just ahead of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks that prompted its invasion.