Taliban Qatar Office

The Taliban did not want India to evacuate diplomats from its Kabul embassy, sources told NDTV today, indicating that the government had received messages from the group's Qatar office assuring them of the safety of its staff and security people.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates announced today that they were severing diplomatic ties with Qatar, as tensions escalate in the region over accusations Doha sponsors terrorism.

Representatives at preliminary talks aiming to end Afghanistan's long war have agreed that Taliban insurgents should open a political office for negotiations, but disagreement over foreign troops is still hampering prospects for a ceasefire.

A top aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to Afghanistan on Sunday to bridge differences over the Taliban's political office and to prepare grounds for President Hamid Karzai's visit to Islamabad, officials said today.

The Taliban office in Doha was a plot to break up Afghanistan orchestrated by either Pakistan or the United States, a top aide to the Afghan president has said.

A diplomat and Taliban official say the Afghan Taliban are closing their Qatar office at least temporarily to protest demands they remove a sign that identified the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

US envoy James Dobbins on Monday said Washington was outraged at how the Taliban opened an office in Qatar that was intended as a first step towards a peace deal in Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that conditions for talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan had not been met yet, after a spat over a new Taliban office in Qatar threatened to derail peace negotiations.

The United States warned Saturday that it could call on the Taliban to close an office in Qatar unless it shows more commitment to reconciliation in Afghanistan.

India has come out in strong support of Afghan President Karzai in his dispute with the US over the Afghan Taliban office opened in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.

A fresh effort to end Afghanistan's 12-year-old war was in limbo on Thursday after a diplomatic spat about the Taliban's new Qatar office delayed preliminary discussions between the United States and the Islamist insurgents.

The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday mulled his response to US efforts to repair damaged ties after a public spat over the Taliban opening an office in Qatar for peace talks.

United States envoys will meet with Taliban representatives within days, senior officials said on Tuesday, after the Afghan militants opened an office in Qatar to oversee peace negotiations.

A Taliban office, touted as a tool to help facilitate talks between the militants and the Afghan government, will open on Tuesday in Doha, the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television reported.

The Taliban did not want India to evacuate diplomats from its Kabul embassy, sources told NDTV today, indicating that the government had received messages from the group's Qatar office assuring them of the safety of its staff and security people.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates announced today that they were severing diplomatic ties with Qatar, as tensions escalate in the region over accusations Doha sponsors terrorism.

Representatives at preliminary talks aiming to end Afghanistan's long war have agreed that Taliban insurgents should open a political office for negotiations, but disagreement over foreign troops is still hampering prospects for a ceasefire.

A top aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will travel to Afghanistan on Sunday to bridge differences over the Taliban's political office and to prepare grounds for President Hamid Karzai's visit to Islamabad, officials said today.

The Taliban office in Doha was a plot to break up Afghanistan orchestrated by either Pakistan or the United States, a top aide to the Afghan president has said.

A diplomat and Taliban official say the Afghan Taliban are closing their Qatar office at least temporarily to protest demands they remove a sign that identified the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

US envoy James Dobbins on Monday said Washington was outraged at how the Taliban opened an office in Qatar that was intended as a first step towards a peace deal in Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that conditions for talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan had not been met yet, after a spat over a new Taliban office in Qatar threatened to derail peace negotiations.

The United States warned Saturday that it could call on the Taliban to close an office in Qatar unless it shows more commitment to reconciliation in Afghanistan.

India has come out in strong support of Afghan President Karzai in his dispute with the US over the Afghan Taliban office opened in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.

A fresh effort to end Afghanistan's 12-year-old war was in limbo on Thursday after a diplomatic spat about the Taliban's new Qatar office delayed preliminary discussions between the United States and the Islamist insurgents.

The United States on Thursday welcomed Qatar's decision to take down a sign that cast the Taliban's new office in Doha as a rival Afghan embassy saying the militant group can't represent itself "as an emirate, government or sovereign."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Thursday mulled his response to US efforts to repair damaged ties after a public spat over the Taliban opening an office in Qatar for peace talks.

United States envoys will meet with Taliban representatives within days, senior officials said on Tuesday, after the Afghan militants opened an office in Qatar to oversee peace negotiations.

A Taliban office, touted as a tool to help facilitate talks between the militants and the Afghan government, will open on Tuesday in Doha, the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television reported.