Afghanistan’s Taliban have racked up a series of diplomatic victories in recent weeks, with the United Arab Emirates’ acceptance of their ambassador exposing a global rift over how to deal with the hardline regime.
The wealthy Gulf state has joined a small but growing number of regional powers building ties with the Taliban despite western efforts to isolate the Islamist group in the three years since it toppled Afghanistan’s Nato-backed government. Kazakhstan last month accepted a Taliban-appointed charge d’affaires, while Uzbekistan’s prime minister visited Kabul in the highest-level foreign visit to the country since the Tal