Oslo / Information Office / December 13
The State of Qatar participated in the International Contact Group (ICG) meeting on Afghanistan held in Oslo, Norway.
The delegation was chaired by HE Special Envoy of Qatar's Foreign Minister for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, Dr. Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani.
The meeting, which was co-chaired by Afghanistan and Germany discussed establishing the peace process in Afghanistan through unifying the international stance towards the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting also discussed undertaking cross-group consultations to assist Afghanistan in restoring stability, security and peace. The meeting also welcomed the Qatari efforts in its good offices and in the mediation of a political solution to the situation in Afghanistan.
HE Al Qahtani explained the efforts of the State of Qatar in the peace process in Afghanistan and its commitment to continue to bring peace. His Excellency confirmed that the State of Qatar does not believe in the military solution in Afghanistan.
With regards to the Taliban office in Doha, HE Al Qahtani said it is only existent to facilitate dialogue and negotiations with all the conflict parties and reiterated the need to cooperate between all parties and engage in direct negotiations without preconditions.
HE Al Qahtani focused on the need to cooperate to build the competencies of some parties of the conflict, as well as to build their confidence and to prepare the necessary conditions for real and serious negotiations and provide the necessary political incentives to create the conditions for successful negotiations and unite the efforts and motives to achieve this.
At the end of the meeting, the State of Qatar announced its invitation to host the ICG on Afghanistan in Doha by the end of 2018.
On the sidelines of the meeting, HE Al Qahtani met separately with HE Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hekmat Karzai, HE German Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Markus Potzel, HE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells and HE Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Tadamichi Yamamoto.
The meetings touched on a number of topics most prominently, the unique role the State of Qatar is playing in mediating and its stance on the peace process and reconciliation in Afghanistan. The meetings also discussed the rejection by all parties of a military solution to the peace process in Afghanistan as well as the regional and international stance towards Afghanistan and the importance of regional and international cooperation on this matter.