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Alexander Cornwell
DUBAI (Reuters) – The Taliban and the United Arab Emirates are preparing to strike a deal on the Gulf state to operate Kabul airport and several other airports in Afghanistan, which could be announced within weeks, according to sources familiar with the talks.
A deal would help Islamic militants ease their isolation from the outside world as they run a poor country ravaged by drought, widespread hunger and an economic crisis.
The deal would also allow Abu Dhabi to gain leverage over Afghanistan’s new ruler in a diplomatic battle with Qatar.
The Taliban’s government, still an international pariah and not officially recognized, has approached regional powers including Qatar and Turkey to operate Kabul airport, landlocked Afghanistan’s main air link to the world, and more.
But after months of back-and-forth negotiations and at one point raising the prospect of a joint UAE-Turkey-Qatar deal, the Taliban will hand over all operations to the UAE, which previously operated Afghanistan’s airports, the sources said.
Under the agreement with the UAE, Afghans will work at the airport, including in security positions, a standard crucial for the Taliban, which has staunchly opposed the presence of foreign troops, the sources said.
Contractors linked to the UAE state will also provide security services, they said, while negotiations continue over the management of Afghan airspace.
GAAC, which is linked to the UAE state, was involved in security and ground handling services at Afghan airports prior to the Taliban takeover, securing a ground handling contract in May shortly after Taliban officials visited Abu Dhabi.
security contract
Joint talks between Qatar and Turkey with the Taliban broke down around the same time, sources said.
Emirati officials had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. GAAC did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesman for the Taliban’s transport ministry confirmed that an aviation security contract had been signed with the UAE, but said the air transport contract had not yet been finalized or confirmed.
Emirates, which has not been flying to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over last year, is expected to resume flights to Kabul and possibly other Afghan airports after the deal is finalized, the sources said.
In the months leading up to the award of the ground service contract, the Taliban repeatedly made unexplained changes to its teams negotiating with Qatar and Turkey, the sources said.
They added that the Taliban then tried to change the agreed terms by raising airport fees and taxes, and weakening Qatar and Turkey’s control over taxation.
Qatari officials had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. A Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that talks with the Taliban had ceased “not long ago”.
Western officials say there is little direct commercial interest in operating the airport, which poses a significant security challenge, but Kabul airport will provide a key source of intelligence about entering and leaving the country.
The UAE talks are part of Abu Dhabi’s quiet but determined effort to expand its longstanding relationship with the Afghan ruler, which has included government aid and diplomatic efforts in the months since the militants took power.
Gulf competition
Western officials say Abu Dhabi sees Afghanistan, which shares a vast land border with the UAE’s Gulf neighbor Iran, as part of its wider backyard and therefore believes it has a legitimate interest in the country’s political and economic stability.
Western officials also said the UAE is keen to counter the influence of Qatar in Afghanistan, a Gulf state hailed by Western nations as a gateway to the Taliban but a rival to Abu Dhabi in the battle for regional influence.
Western officials worry that such competition is playing out in Afghanistan. The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, severed ties with Qatar from 2017 to 2021, part of a long-running bitter dispute between the two wealthy Gulf states that was largely resolved last year.
Qatar has the Taliban’s political office in Doha, which has long been one of the few places to meet with militants and where the United States has negotiated a withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Qatar also helped run the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul after the collapse of the Western-backed government last August. Its state-owned Qatar Airways operates charter flights, and Qatari special forces provide security on the ground.
But Qatar’s relations with the Taliban now appear strained, according to Western officials, who say the militants have become wary of being too dependent on any one country.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Additional reporting by Orhan Coskun in Ankara; Editing by William Maclean)
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