Qatar’s prime minister reportedly meets with Taliban’s supreme leader in Afghanistan

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The supreme leader of the Taliban met in Afghanistan with Qatar’s prime minister this month. The meeting May 12 is the first-such publicly known meeting between the Taliban’s reclusive leader and a foreign official. Al Jazeera English reported on the meeting Wednesday. It said Haibatullah Akhunzada met Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on May 12 in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. Qatari government officials declined to discuss the meeting, which Reuters first reported. The Taliban did not respond to requests for comment, and the U.S. State Department declined to comment.