KABUL (SW) – Analysts believe the growing rift between the UAE and Qatar has led to Mohammed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi's crown prince, proposing to set up an assassination programmer targeting top Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.
According to the Middle East Eye (MEE) news website the crown prince made the offer during the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the UAE on January 12 amid disagreements over the progress of peace talks between US and Taliban negotiators. According to the source, bin Zayed told Pompeo that Washington risked allowing Afghanistan to fall back into the hands of the "backward, bearded bad guys" and proposed hiring mercenaries to kill Taliban leaders to weaken the group's negotiating position.
It added Pompeo was visibly taken aback by the offer, but said nothing, the source reportedly said. The UAE has supported US efforts to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, and hosted a first round of negotiations between the two sides late last year in Abu Dhabi.
But bin Zayed is believed to have been frustrated that subsequent rounds of negotiations were moved to Qatar's capital, Doha, at the insistence of the Taliban, which has maintained a political office there since 2013.
Syed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban-era official, told Salam Watandar these remarks are due to growing rift between Qatar and the UAE, and the warming ties between Abu Dhabi and Kabul.
Another Kabul-based analyst, Nasir Rehmani, said the UAE is aiming at pushing the Taliban to leave the Qatari and Iranian camp.
This comes as Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, concluded discussions with his counterparts from China, Russia and the European Union on his efforts for peace talks in the country.
US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad held two-day talks with representatives of EU, China, and Russia for consultations on the Afghan peace process, the US Department of State said in a statement on March 22.
“To benefit all Afghans, the region, and the world, they further underscored that any peace agreement should uphold the rights of all Afghans, in particular, those of women, minorities, and children, and ensure Afghan soil is not used by international terrorist groups or individuals against any country,” the statement said.
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