Planned meeting in Doha cancelled due to Afghanistan's objections over flag and nameplate that have now been removed.
Peace talks between the US and the Taliban in Qatar are still on hold, with a planned meeting getting cancelled because of Afghanistan's objections over the flag and nameplate on the Taliban's new office in Doha.
The meeting between US officials and representatives of the Taliban had been scheduled for Thursday in Qatar but Afghan anger at the fanfare surrounding the opening of the Taliban office threw preparations into confusion.
Officials from Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government, upset over the official-sounding name the Taliban chose for the office, said the US had violated assurances it would not give official status to the group.
A statement on Qatar's foreign ministry website late on Wednesday said that the office was now called the "Political Bureau for Afghan Taliban in Doha".
The Taliban flag that had been hoisted at the villa in Doha on Tuesday had been taken down and lay on the ground on Thursday, although it appeared still attached to a flagpole.
The name plate, inscribed "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", had been removed from the outside of the building.
But a similar plaque fixed onto a wall inside the building was still there on Thursday morning, witnesses said.
Rosemary DiCarlo, US deputy ambassador to the UN, told the Security Council on Thursday that the US dif not recognise the "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" name and was "pleased that Qatar has clarified that the name of the office is the Political Office of the Afghan Taliban, and has had the sign with the incorrect name in front of the door taken down".
