According to a New York Times report, leaked emails and former U.S officials indicate the UAE competed with Qatar to host the Taliban embassy.
UAE competed with Qatar to host Afghan Taliban
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Leaked emails and former American officials said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) competed with Qatar to host the Taliban embassy, according to a New York Times report.The NYT reported that according to leaked emails from the UAE ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba's account, he even received "an angry phone call" from the foreign minister at the time complaining that the Taliban had ended up in Qatar.
This comes amid an ongoing crisis in the Gulf, which has seen Qatar come under severe pressure from regional countries.
In June, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt cut off trade and diplomatic relations with Qatar as punishment for what they said was its support of Islamist extremism.
Qatar and the UAE are both key allies of Washington but have been intense rivals for years and have recently accused each other of meddling in each other's internal affairs. Supporters of each side have accused the other of cyberespionage, the NYT reported.