Tag Archives: Doha

A Hamas official said on Monday that Qatar will start sending Gaza up to $10 million worth of Egyptian fuel a month under a plan to fund civil service pay in the impoverished Palestinian enclave ruled by the Islamist group. Qatar announced on Nov. 17 that it had signed agreements …

The Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has announced a US$ 18 million contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in support of its core resources for 2021 and 2022. The total contribution of US$ 18 million will be disbursed in …

On her two-day trip to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which began yesterday (Wednesday 20 October), she is looking to establish bilateral working groups with Gulf allies to deliver cleaner and more reliable infrastructure and much needed financing into developing and developed nations. Truss wants more bilateral investment partnerships to drive …

There is no clear path for unfreezing Afghan government funds, Qatar’s foreign minister told a conference on Wednesday, highlighting the economic challenges Afghanistan faces under its new Taliban rulers. Qatar is hosting talks between the Taliban and Western officials and is seen as having influence over the Taliban movement. Much …

The Taliban held their first face-to-face talks with a joint EU-US delegation Tuesday in Qatar as the hard-line Islamists pursue their diplomatic push for international support. Afghanistan’s new rulers are seeking recognition, as well as assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster, after they returned to power in August following the …

The US Treasury Department Wednesday announced sanctions on a Hezbollah financial network based in the Arabian Peninsula, with support from Qatar. In the release, the US government noted that it designated these individuals and entities in “coordinated actions” with Qatar. Among the designations were Ali Reda Hassan al-Banai (Ali al-Banai), Ali Reda …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that international recognition of the Taliban was not currently under consideration. Lavrov was speaking on the sidelines of the annual gathering of world leaders in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. His comments come after the Taliban nominated a U.N. envoy, …

Qatar’s foreign minister said on Monday the Gulf state has urged Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers to respect women’s rights and that it was still too early to consider recognising their government. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani was speaking in a joint news conference with French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian …

U.S. authorities are investigating whether payments by U.S. weapons maker Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N to a consultant for the Qatar Armed Forces may have been bribes intended for a member of the country’s ruling royal family, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. A lawsuit filed in …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday he would travel to Qatar on Sunday to meet with the country’s leaders and thank them for their help during the evacuation from Afghanistan, and later proceed to Germany where he will hold a ministerial meeting. Blinken told a news conference …

Former President Donald Trump launched on Saturday a sustained attack on President Joe Biden’s handling of the retreat of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, which he called “the greatest foreign policy humiliation” in U.S. history. Trump, a Republican who has dangled the possibility of running again for president in 2024, has …

As Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul for an undisclosed destination, armed Taliban fighters entered official buildings nationwide, including the presidential palace. Senior commanders in black turbans sat down and gave statements while young fighters took selfies. In the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, fighters were seen shooting at a billboard …

Qatar’s emir approved laws on Thursday for the Gulf Arab state’s first legislative election in October, when Qataris will elect two-thirds of the advisory Shura Council, his office said. The election, plans for which were first approved in a 2003 constitutional referendum, is being held before the capital Doha hosting …

Security officials under NATO command have approached Qatar to secure a base that can be used to train Afghan special forces as part of a strategic commitment after foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan, three senior Western officials said. After two decades of war, forces from 36 countries involved in NATO’s …

Turkey should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan under the 2020 deal for the pullout of U.S. forces, a Taliban spokesman said on Thursday, effectively rejecting Ankara’s proposal to guard and run Kabul’s airport after U.S.-led NATO forces depart. The development raises serious questions for the United States, other countries and …

Turkey will hold an Afghan peace summit from April 24 to May 4 meant to jump-start efforts to end Afghanistan’s war and sketch out a possible political settlement, Turkish authorities said on Tuesday. The summit includes the United Nations and Qatar as part of a U.S.-backed push to advance talks …

President Joe Biden has decided to withdraw the remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021, 20 years to the day after al Qaeda’s attacks triggered America’s longest war, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are expected to …

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will put forward a three-phase peace roadmap for Afghanistan during a proposed meeting in Turkey, seeking an agreement with the Taliban and a ceasefire before elections, a document seen by Reuters shows. Washington is pushing for a conference to be hosted by Turkey, with U.N. involvement, …

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Qatar on Monday to eliminate male guardianship rules that prevent women making independent decisions on basic rights such as marriage, travel and accessing reproductive health care. New York-based HRW said that after taking initiatives on women’s rights, including on education and social protection, Qatar was …

A powerful car bomb near a police station on Friday night killed at least seven people and wounded more than 50 others in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, officials said. Herat Governor Sayed Abdul Wahid Qatali said several women and children were among the dead. He added that at least 53 …

U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said on Tuesday a May 1 deadline for withdrawing U.S. forces from Afghanistan may have to be reconsidered because the Taliban are not meeting their commitments under a 2020 peace deal. “I’m very concerned about the viability of the peace process in …

The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan proposed a shakeup of the stalled peace process this week, including an interim government and a conference of key players, according to diplomatic and political sources, but his plan faced immediate objections by the warring sides. Afghan-born U.S. diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad is on a …

Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states must play a key role in any talks between the US and Iran to revive the deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, the Kingdom’s foreign minister said on Saturday. Joe Biden has indicated that when he takes office as US president next month …

Female assassins who lured an Afghan security official to his death with promises of sex before shooting him and dumping his body at a cemetery are among thousands of Taliban criminals freed as part of a fragile peace plan. While the ultra-conservative Islamists ban women from many areas of life …

A prominent women’s rights advocate who was part of Afghanistan’s government’s team of negotiators at the intra-Afghan talks with the Taliban said that despite the negotiations in Doha, Qatar, the insurgent group believe in regaining power “through military means.” “(Since signing the deal with the US), the Taliban feel they …

The United States launched air strikes against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province, U.S. officials said on Monday, after a large-scale offensive saw insurgents take over military bases in the region and close in on a key provincial capital. The strikes, carried out over the last two days, mark …

A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden truck into a checkpoint in Afghanistan late on Wednesday killing 11 people, as peace talks between the government and Taliban militants in Qatar seemed to have no bearing on the violence at home. No group claimed responsibility for the attack in the southern province …

U.S. President Donald Trump hailed the agreement signed between the United States and the Taliban on Saturday as a move to end American’s longest war and bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. “We are working to finally end America’s longest war and bring our troops back home,” a White House …

On Wednesday evening, appearing on a television programme ironically called Truth on a Doha channel, Qatar’s foreign minister managed to mislead, misinform and misspeak in a display of verbal dexterity that defied and defiled truthfulness. Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, who’s also the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar, …

Qatari Emir Shaikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani and Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaikh Sabah Al Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah discussed in Doha the latest developments regarding the Kuwaiti mediation to resolve the Gulf crisis, the official news agencies of both countries said. …

Qatar said on Wednesday its official state news agency was hacked and subsequently carried a “false statement” on sensitive regional topics attributed to the country’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. Among the issues allegedly addressed by the Qatari ruler were the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, strategic relations with Iran, and comments …

The Levant News — Western diplomats shunned the opening ceremony of a conference in Qatar on Sunday attended by Sudan’s president, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who came to power in Sudan in a 1989 Islamist and military-backed coup, has …