doha – ibrahim badawi:

h.e. sheikh mohammed bin abdul rahman al thani, deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said: qatar is trying to play its role in the region and beyond by positioning qatar as a platform for dialogue between the warring parties, pointing to its contribution to the evacuation of more than 70,000 people from afghanistan in recent months.

speaking about the role of qatari mediation in afghanistan at the rome mediterranean dialogue conference in the italian capital, his excellency said: “the world cup, hosted by qatar next year, is an opportunity to show the world that the middle east region has developed and open countries that welcome the world and seek to unite the people.

“we know that there are problems and crises surrounding us, but we believe that the region has greater prospects than we are witnessing today, and in order to overcome these crises and stabilize the region, i think we must strengthen dialogue and deal with the root causes of these problems, which have socio-economic dimensions.”

dialogue platform

he noted that qatar is trying to play its role in the region and beyond by positioning qatar as a platform for dialogue between the warring parties, and is providing support and assistance to other countries in the region through better opportunities, particularly for young people.

• we seek stability and security in the gulf to ensure the prosperity of the people

in response to a question about qatar’s mediation in its foreign policy, which was evident in afghanistan and their expectations for developments in afghanistan, the foreign minister said: qatar has the privilege of hosting the u.s.-taliban dialogue that led to an end to the war in afghanistan. qatar has also assisted its allies and partners in europe and the united states through evacuations, qatar has evacuated more than 70,000 people from afghanistan in recent months, and airlines remain open to evacuate more in cooperation with our partners in europe and the united states.

key challenges

“in the future, i believe that the main challenge for afghanistan is the lack of clarity on how to deal with afghanistan after the taliban have taken control of power, and so far there is no clear strategy adopted by the international community, whether at the united nations, the security council or elsewhere, to clarify how to deal with the situation in afghanistan in humanitarian, economic, political or security terms.” what we are trying to do is to reach out to all concerned parties, states, the taliban, neighbouring and permanent members of the security council, as well as some states in the region that have contacts and relations with afghanistan in order to reach an understanding that develops a plan to deal with afghanistan in the future, and we must all agree that the assistance and humanitarian support of the afghan people must not be criticized and not linked to any political progress; it is unfair to punish the afghan people as a result of taliban control.

i believe that the security and political situation there reinforces the concern of neighbouring countries and the countries of the region, as a result of terrorist groups such as isis, which may see afghanistan as fertile ground after what happened last august, in line with economic sanctions and the freezing of government action, and it is not possible to secure support for the afghan people, and would lead to an economic crisis that could put oil on fire for terrorist groups that might launch attacks from afghanistan.

u.s. country relations

asked about the impact of qatari mediation between the united states and the taliban and hosted by the u.s. diplomatic mission on relations between the two countries, his excellency said: the united states of america is our most important ally and we have strong and strategic relations with america linked to several areas such as regional security, defense, economic partnerships and other educational, cultural and other areas, he added: we consider that the recent decision of the united states is based on its own assessment, and we cannot comment on the decision taken by the united states but from our experience in dealing with the united states on many issues, we know that the united states still has interests in the region, deals with qatar in the afghanistan and other files, and we cooperate with each other on the israeli and palestinian conflicts and other regional issues, and we see this as evidence of u.s. interest in the stability of the region.

“the middle east cannot be ignored because it is important for the stability of the world, both in terms of security, economic and energy, so i do not believe that there is a decline in the interest of any of our international allies and partners in the region.

qatar-russia relations

• we reach out to russia in maintaining afghanistan’s stability

on qatar-russia relations and the situation in afghanistan, the foreign minister said: russia is close to afghanistan, so what is happening in afghanistan has repercussions in russia, and certainly we are communicating with russia, it is a partner in maintaining the stability of afghanistan, and we are communicating with them, and when we face difficulties we cooperate in different areas to get to know the common ground of the international community to work with each other, hand in hand, and that is similar to our relations with europe and neighboring countries, and i think that whether it is russia or china or neighbouring countries, each country has legitimate concerns about any tension that may occur in afghanistan as a result of the current situation, so concerns about afghanistan must be addressed.

his excellency stressed that instability in afghanistan will have serious repercussions in the region and the world, and we must work together for the benefit of the afghan people.

on qatar-turkey cooperation on the afghan issue, his excellency the foreign minister said: during the mechanism we have been communicating and cooperating closely with turkey as we work with them with regard to the airport and assessing the requirements for the rehabilitation of kabul airport, and agreeing with the taliban government to operate the airport in the future, and we are working closely with turkey on these topics and communicating with them permanently whether it is related to afghanistan or other issues that may have an impact on our security or security.

qatar’s priorities in the region

on qatar’s priorities and interests in the gulf, the middle east and north africa, the foreign minister said: our priorities in the gulf region in particular and the region more broadly are to establish stability and security, because this is the only way for people in the region to flourish. “qatar is a small country with a network and a wide range of friendships, and we use this network and benefit from it in order to establish security and stability in the region, and we have no interest or interest in any country except to make this region and the world safer, and that facilitates the prosperity of our peoples, and certainly creates opportunities for the growth of our economy further and enables us to reach the maximum reach in our region, because we have all the resources necessary to move energy and human resources, in addition to the great prospects and capacities that can be reached in our region. take advantage of them if we reach a solution in conflicts and crises.

with regard to the various issues in the region from sudan to lebanon and eritrea, qatar is trying to provide a platform that allows the conflicting parties to dialogue in a constructive manner and we have tried to resolve conflicts peacefully and we have succeeded in doing so in some cases, and in some cases efforts have not reached the desired results, qatar will continue to lead it, and his highness sheikh tamim bin hamad al-thani, the emir of the country, is committed to a positive role to help the people to support the security and stability of the region.

world cup

• the world cup is an opportunity to show that the middle east is ahead and welcomes the whole world.

on the benefits of qatar hosting the 2022 world cup, his excellency said: we are honored that qatar is the country where the world cup will be held in the middle east, and we will have the opportunity to show millions of people in the world that the middle east has developed and open countries and welcomes the whole world, an excellent opportunity to bring the world together in this tournament, and the perfect opportunity for us to see the world that the middle east is a region of prosperity with great capabilities and potential that we must work together to benefit all of us. of this potential.

during these weeks we host the arab world cup, a mini-version of the world cup, where the arab world teams came to compete for the arab cup, and all the people are happy that they are united and the most appropriate way to unite the world is either sports or music, and this is the tool through which we will unite the world in 2022, as well as unite the peoples in the arab world cup.