The
Taliban and UAE reached an agreement for the UAE to run airports in
Afghanistan, according to Ghulam Jailani Wafa, the deputy minister of
transportation and civil aviation. Taliban deputy minister of transportation
signed a contract with a GAAC business representative on May 27 in the presence
of first deputy prime minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. The United Arab
Emirates-based GAAC is a global business that offers aviation services.
Up
to August 15, 2021, when the Taliban overthrew the Western-backed government
and gained control of Afghanistan, the GAAC was in charge of ground operations
in Kabul. The Taliban's almost 20-year war came to an end later that month as
the last American and NATO soldiers left Afghanistan.
According
to media sources, Taliban representatives claimed that they personally
renegotiated the prior agreement with GAAC, making some revisions and that the
arrangement was only with the company and not with the UAE government.
After
months of disruption, the renewed agreement will likely restore business,
trade, commerce, and people-to-people contact in Afghanistan, according to
GAAC's managing director Razeq Aslam Mohammad Abdul Razeq. According to VOA,
Razeq stated that they hoped Afghanistan will contact them again so they could
carry on with the activities in Afghan airports.
A
GAAC spokesperson stated in an email that GAAC would offer specialized services
to "safeguard civil aviation from unlawful intervention" and was
equipped to handle air traffic management among other services.
The
official stated that all personnel providing services at Afghan airports were
GAAC workers and that GAAC had assisted in restoring operations at Kabul
Airport in September.
The
decision to hold talks with the Afghan government and finalize new agreements
for our services at Afghan airports, he said, was made by GAAC.
The
terms of the arrangement were not discussed by the Taliban. An inquiry for
comment was not immediately answered by the Emirati Foreign Ministry. On a
single page of its website, GAAC Solutions presents itself as an Abu
Dhabi-based joint venture with the company G42 as one of its partners. G42
officials have declined to reveal the company's ownership, but many believe it
has ties to Abu Dhabi's ruling family.
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