Qatar and Afghanistan: A Conversation with Ambassador Dr Mutlaq Al-Qahtani
In this conversation, Dr Mutlaq Al-Qahtani will discuss Qatar’s role in Afghanistan and offer his analysis of recent developments in the country.
Qatar is playing a critical role in the international community’s current engagement in Afghanistan. Doha hosted the negotiations between the US government and the Taliban that led to the withdrawal agreement of February 2020. This summer, Qatar played an instrumental – and internationally acclaimed – role in facilitating the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Kabul. Today, Qatar is one of the only countries that maintains relations with the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Speaker:
Ambassador Dr Mutlaq Al-Qahtani holds the post of Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution. He previously served as the Director of the Department of International Organisations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before that, he was the legal adviser to the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (2010–11) and the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the UN during the Qatar tenure in the Security Council (2006–07).
Dr Al-Qahtani holds extensive expertise in counterterrorism, conflict mediation, preventive diplomacy and dispute settlement in international law. In 2015, he was awarded the Ambassador of Peace Award by the Universal Peace Federation. Most recently, he has played a key role in the Afghan peace process.
If you have any questions, please e-mail Živilė Kulevičiūtė, Events Manager, at: ZivileK@rusi.org.