HE Assistant Foreign Minister and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater met, during her visit to Washington, separately with HE Tom Malinowski, HE Mike Gallagher, HE Lisa McClain, HE Seth Moulton, HE Ami Bera and HE Jason Crow, members of the US Congress. During the meetings, they reviewed the strategic relations between the State of Qatar and the United States of America, regional issues, and political and security developments in Afghanistan.

The Saudi-Qatari Follow-up Committee held, at the headquarters of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Doha, yesterday, its sixth meeting, where the Saudi side was headed in the meeting by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Political and Economic Affairs Eid bin Mohammed Al-Thaqafi, while the Qatari side was chaired by the Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Security Affairs Ali bin Fahd Al-Hajri. The work of the committee comes, in implementation of the directives of the leaderships of the two countries (May Allah bless them) to promote the development and aspirations of the two brotherly people.

HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani met Thursday with HE High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who is currently visiting the country. During the meeting, they reviewed cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and the European Union and a number of regional and international issues, in addition to issues of joint interest. They also exchanged views, during the meeting, on the Afghan issue and discussed the latest developments and visions of international parties and the latest security and political developments in Afghanistan. HE High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy expressed his thanks, in this regard, to the State of Qatar for its continuous efforts to support peace in Afghanistan, and to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from it in cooperation with a number of European Union countries.

His Highness The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani received this morning at the Amiri Diwan Office, HE High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell and the accompanying delegation, who called on HH The Amir to greet him on the occasion of their visit to the country. During the meeting, they discussed cooperation relations between the State of Qatar and the European Union and ways to enhance and develop them, in addition to the most prominent regional and international developments, especially the developments in Afghanistan. In this regard, HE Josep Borrell expressed his thanks and appreciation to HH The Amir for the role of the State of Qatar and its effective contribution to the evacuation of European nationals and its efforts to support the peace process in Afghanistan.

The State of Qatar renewed its commitment to working with the international community for total elimination of nuclear weapons, and regional and international peace and security, stressing the importance of strict and full commitment to all pledges and implementation of legal obligations arising from international agreements in the field of nuclear disarmament and the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This came in a statement made by HE Director of the International Organizations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yousef Sultan Laram at the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, held on the sidelines of its 76th session. The State of Qatar's statement affirmed the importance of responsible development of peaceful nuclear energy programs and adherence to comprehensive safeguards measures in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to ensure the highest standards of safety and security in a world where nuclear proliferation is a source of great concern and threaten future generations. The proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East is an additional dimension of the current challenges faced by the region, the statement said. Clearing the region of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction can contribute significantly to achieving regional and international desired stability, the statement said, referring to the resolution issued by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which considered freeing the Middle East region of nuclear weapons as one of the essential pillars. The statement also renewed the State of Qatar's support for holding the Second Session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, pointing out that holding the Conference had been postponed to the last quarter of this year due to Covid-19 circumstances and measures.

Major General Daniel Tully, Deputy Director of Troop Development at the U.S. Army Joint Chiefs of Staff, supervisor in charge of directing joint forces training and development systems, information analysis and achieving the strategy for the President's vision of national military policy, and the veteran military commander in the Air Force, confirmed, the State of Qatar's valuable efforts in partnership with U.S. forces in the difficult evacuations have saved thousands of lives, and without the efforts of the Prince's Air Force and the State of Qatar's multiple military and civilian forces involved in the evacuations, more than 60,000 citizens would not have been successfully evacuated from Afghanistan. Major General Daniel Tully, who knew the State of Qatar closely when he became commander of Air Wing 379 at Al Udeid Air Base, continued his statement to at Al-Sharq, saying: The American and Qatar coordination at the military level has always been central to Al-Udeid base, which is the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East, especially given President Joe Biden's desire to resolve the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan, and Al Udeid base has played an important, pivotal and strategic role in these policies, as it has become more central and vital to the Pentagon, particularly what Qatari partners have provided over the past 20 years, during which our partnership with our friends in Qatar has succeeded in carrying out difficult and complex operations, particularly at the air force level, in more than one scene in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the centrality of many base regarding the regional cases that the Pentagon places in their vital priorities, including Afghanistan and the fight against extremist terrorist entities and their remnants in Syria and Iraq, and tensions in the Syrian scene, especially in the north, as well as the complex situation in Yemen and also related to some tensions with Iran, and there is a continuing and positive coordination between Doha and Washington at the military level, reflecting the great concern given by the Qatari and American military leaders on the importance of strengthening positive relations and the corresponding importance of Qatar centrally as one of the closest U.S. partners in the region, especially since the tributaries of military coordination are multiple and did not stop at the evacuations, but were preceded by the participation and positive development of the Qatari army system with important military and vital deals from America, and a tremendous development system that brought Qatari military thought closer to the thinking and perceptions of NATO bases and is no different from the direction in which the positive partnership between Qatar and America as a major and positive alliance relationship. Evacuation centers in Qatar have also witnessed upgrades, development, and quick availability of buildings to accommodate the large numbers of evacuations, not affecting operational procedures that were passing faster but in rare coordination in a mostly chaotic scene in Kabul. President Biden has shown great appreciation for Qatar's pivotal role in the evacuations. The Pentagon praised greatly and with gratitude for what Qatar has provided during the past period, which joins a history of great and wonderful positions by the Qatari hosts who continue to amaze us with their generosity, their hospitality, and their positive participation.

The State of Qatar has affirmed that the goal of eliminating COVID-19 will only be achieved through equality between countries and peoples in obtaining vaccines, as it is not envisaged that any country will be safe from the pandemic unless everyone is safe. This came in the statement of the State of Qatar, delivered by the Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations office in Geneva Ibrahim Sultan Al Hashemi, at the Human Rights Council at its 48th session during the panel discussion on deepening inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Al Hashemi said that while the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted many manifestations of solidarity and synergy between countries and peoples, this crisis has also revealed disparities and inequalities, especially with regard to the efforts of the international health and economic response to address the pandemic. He pointed out that recognizing this, and based on its moral and humanitarian duty, as well as its conviction that addressing international challenges such as health pandemics is a common international responsibility, the State of Qatar has sought since the beginning of the crisis to mitigate its effects by providing various types of international assistance that have benefited more than 80 countries around the world. It also supported efforts related to fair and equitable access to vaccines for all in an accessible and equitable manner without any discrimination, he added. In this regard, the State of Qatar provided support to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the COVAX mechanism, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the humanitarian initiative to provide COVID-19 vaccines to the most vulnerable groups, especially refugees, displaced persons and migrants, Al Hashemi noted in the statement. He underlined that at the national level, the State of Qatar has adopted since the beginning of the crisis, a perspective that takes into account basic human rights in providing healthcare to all segments of society without discrimination, stressing that Qatar is now close to vaccinating the majority of its population against the pandemic, as 92 percent of those eligible to receive the vaccine (12 years and older) received one dose, and 79.8 percent received two doses.

The State of Qatar participated in the 31st meeting of the ministers of justice of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which took place today, through visual communication technology, H.E. Mr. Masood bin Mohammed Al Ameri, Minister of Justice led the delegation of the State of Qatar at the meeting, and discussed a number of draft laws and guidelines, in addition to discussing a number of agreements, including the extradition agreement of the accused and sentenced individuals among the GCC countries. The meeting also addressed the Convention on the Implementation of Sentences, Prosecutions and Judicial Declarations, the Unified Anti-Discrimination and Hatred Bill and the reports of the committees on cooperation projects between the Ministries of Justice of the GCC countries.

Pascal Boniface, founder and director of the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris (iris), praised Qatar's role in the international political landscape. In an interview with the Al-sharq newspaper, he said Doha seeks to be the front of global diplomacy, as a nation that speaks to all, and Doha has played an essential and invaluable role in facilitating the clearance of the Afghan file by building a bridge for dialogue between the parties to the internal conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. government in recent years. Pascal Boniface highlighted that Doha not only has a great diplomatic skill to play the role of mediator with the neutrality and peaceful outlook it requires, but also has a very advanced infrastructure, a huge aviation fleet and high-level logistical capabilities. What is your explanation for the Taliban's recapture of Afghanistan, after years of war? The Taliban's return to power, if anything, demonstrates the utter failure of military interventions and the language of force that Western forces have tried to impose on Afghanistan. Conflicts can never be resolved in a way of coercion and coercion, and the will of the people cannot be adapted to violence and Afghanistan is a telling example: the Taliban rule is called the "tomb of empires", defeating the British Empire, the Soviet Empire and, more recently, the American Empire. The U.S. military intervention budget in Afghanistan is estimated at $20 billion and the Taliban budget does not exceed $2 billion during the conflict, without talking about the military numerical difference. Nevertheless, America has not been able to overcome them, and the forcible export of the principles and values of the West to Eastern societies has failed and has not worked. How do you find the mediation role played by Qatar in the Afghan file? The State of Qatar has played an essential and invaluable role in facilitating the clearance of the Afghan file by building a bridge for dialogue between the parties to the internal conflict in Afghanistan and the U.S. government in recent years. Of course, there are some who are not familiar with the merits of these actions for years surprised by the Qatari role recently and speculated that Qatar is helping and protecting the Taliban, which is totally wrong, as experts meet to confirm that the State of Qatar played the role of mediator between the Taliban and the Americans at the request of the latter when there were no possible ways of communication and negotiations with the Taliban.

Doha/ Al Watan/ FIFA announced the launch of tickets for the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup Qatar™ through its website as of Tuesday at 12:00 pm Doha time. In its turn, the High Commission for Projects and Legacy announced the introduction of the mandatory fan card system for ticket holders to enter the stadiums, a card that will allow fans to use public transportation free of charge during match days.