DOHA: A woman in skin-tight trousers passed the Taliban delegation as they waited to enter the cavernous ballroom of the luxury Doha hotel hosting key peace talks between rival Afghan parties.
The sight of the young woman in heels brandishing a box of electrical equipment breezing past the turbaned delegates of the militant group neatly illustrated the depth of differences yet to be bridged.
Taliban representatives were holding two days of talks with members of the Afghan government, civil society, political opposition and several women in hope of bringing peace after 18 years of war.
A ceasefire, women’s rights and minority representation were among the delicate issues on the table at the Sunday-Monday talks.
Women’s rights have proven particularly important as when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they imposed a rigid interpretation of sharia Islamic law that set curbs on women’s dress, behaviour and rights.
The beachfront hotel was noticeably quieter for the second day of talks, with one Afghan journalist describing the whole of Doha as a “ghost city”.
An eager lobby pianist played an eclectic song-book that veered from the possibly prescient Abba hit “Winner Takes it All” to Soviet rockstar Viktor Tsoi as roughly 70 delegates arrived for the intra-Afghan talks.
The Taliban members, who wore minimal but immaculate robes and neatly trimmed beards, cut a far more modest image than the German and Qatari hosts.
A security ring of steel was in place for the talks with the hotel’s customary suited African security officers replaced with an army of men in traditional thobe robes and earpieces.
Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai had a brief altercation with one guard as he attempted to enter the secure conference area.
“We want to go to the dialogue but they are not letting us,” Stanikzai said to an officer, who replied: “We are not joking with you, stop shouting at us.”
Prominent Afghan figures including journalists, activists and politicians huddled in the angular lobby’s plethora of corners and cubbies alongside guests — some in the niqab face-covering worn by some women, others in beachwear.
“I’ve been to Afghanistan so I don’t really mind it,” said one guest in shorts, sandals and a T-shirt who said he was unaware the hotel was being used for talks between Afghan figures and the Taliban.
The German co-hosts, including an official with a man-bun hairstyle, looked nervous as media covering the forum’s opening photographed and filmed the delegates who sat silently and impassively.
They were arranged in a vast semi-circle under an octagonal chandelier at desks bearing name plates — but not their affiliation.
The invitees were there in a “personal capacity”, circumventing the Taliban’s refusal to negotiate with the Kabul government. — AFP
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