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Who is Taliban’s first UAE envoy since its return to power?

The United Arab Emirates is only the second country to accept an ambassador from the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, after China.

WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images
Mohammad Faqir Mohammadi (C), Deputy of the Taliban's Ministry of Virtue and Vice, speaks during a press conference in Kabul on Aug. 20, 2024. — WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

BEIRUT, DUBAI — The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan appointed its first ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, more than two months after a rare visit by the group's interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani to Abu Dhabi.

The Foreign Ministry in Kabul announced the appointment of Badruddin Haqqani in a press release on its website late on Wednesday.

According to the press release, Saif Abdullah Al-Shamsi, the assistant undersecretary for protocol affairs at the Emirati Foreign Ministry, accepted Haqqani's credentials during a formal ceremony in Abu Dhabi.

Haqqani described relations between the UAE and Afghanistan as “historic” and expressed his appreciation for the ongoing cooperation between the two countries, the statement read.

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