Qatar rivalry, security concerns drive UAE thaw with Afghanistan’s Taliban

Moving closer toward formally recognizing the Taliban government in Kabul, the United Arab Emirates this week accepted Mawlawi Badr al-Din al-Haqqani as ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, its first such acceptance of a Taliban envoy. 

Although the Taliban have been in power since August 2021, no country has officially recognized their government due to concerns over human rights violations and prohibitions on education and employment for Afghan women. The Aug. 21 announcement by the UAE makes it only the second country, after China, to acknowledge a Taliban-appointed representative as an official envoy from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

A week before this new development, the acting prime minister of the Afghan government, Mullah Mohammed Hassan Akhund, traveled to Abu Dhabi on his first foreign trip since assuming power.

Akhund's trip, local Afghan media suggested, was intended for medical treatment, despite travel restrictions on him by the United Nations. While in the hospital, Akhund received a visit from UAE President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.