The US State Department has denied reports the United States has scheduled talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday made his second call to the Afghan President in 24 hours to ease Hamid Karzai's anger over the rollout of the Taliban's new political office in Qatar - a rift that temporarily delayed US talks with the militant group set to begin this week.
Mr Karzai was upset that when it opened its new office in Qatar the Taliban used its formal name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what it used when it was in power more than a decade ago.
Afghan officials said that violated an agreement that the office should open only for negotiations, not as a political entity like a parallel institution to the Afghan government.
In anger, Mr Karzai halted negotiations with the US over a security agreement that will govern US military involvement in Afghanistan after the end of next year, when most international forces will have completed their withdrawal.
And he said he would no longer send representatives from his High Peace Council to Qatar for talks with the Taliban, presumably to be held a few days after the militant group talks to the Americans.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said James Dobbins, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was scheduled to leave Washington to visit Turkey, Qatar, Afghanistan and Pakistan, focusing primarily on "reconciliation efforts".
But yesterday she said Mr Dobbins had yet to leave Washington and acknowledged the turmoil over how the office was opened had affected his plans.
A US official said a Washington representative still expected to have the first public meeting with the Taliban in the next few days in Qatar, but that no meeting date had been set.
The Obama administration said the US and Qatar had never agreed to allow the Taliban to use that name on the door and blamed the Taliban for engaging in a game of one-upmanship.
Ms Psaki said that in calls to Mr Karzai on Wednesday and yesterday, Mr Kerry reiterated that the US did not recognise the name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
"He (Kerry) noted that the government of Qatar has taken steps today to ensure that the political office is in compliance with the conditions established by the government of Qatar for its operations and noted also that we are pleased that the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement clarifying that the name of the office is the Political Office of the Afghan Taliban and not the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and has had the sign with the incorrect name in front of the door taken down," Ms Psaki said.
The consensus among US officials was that the government of Qatar was as surprised as the Obama administration that the Taliban hoisted its flag at the opening of the office and used a banner that named it: "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
Ms Psaki did not react to Mr Karzai's decision to suspend talks on the US-Afghan security agreement, saying only that the US remained committed to continuing negotiations.
Asked if the Obama administration was "taken aback" by Mr Karzai's reaction, she said : "That would be an overstatement. I don't think we (were) expecting everything would be a smooth and sunny road."
US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday made his second call to the Afghan President in 24 hours to ease Hamid Karzai's anger over the rollout of the Taliban's new political office in Qatar - a rift that temporarily delayed US talks with the militant group set to begin this week.
Mr Karzai was upset that when it opened its new office in Qatar the Taliban used its formal name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which is what it used when it was in power more than a decade ago.
Afghan officials said that violated an agreement that the office should open only for negotiations, not as a political entity like a parallel institution to the Afghan government.
In anger, Mr Karzai halted negotiations with the US over a security agreement that will govern US military involvement in Afghanistan after the end of next year, when most international forces will have completed their withdrawal.
And he said he would no longer send representatives from his High Peace Council to Qatar for talks with the Taliban, presumably to be held a few days after the militant group talks to the Americans.
On Wednesday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said James Dobbins, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was scheduled to leave Washington to visit Turkey, Qatar, Afghanistan and Pakistan, focusing primarily on "reconciliation efforts".
But yesterday she said Mr Dobbins had yet to leave Washington and acknowledged the turmoil over how the office was opened had affected his plans.
A US official said a Washington representative still expected to have the first public meeting with the Taliban in the next few days in Qatar, but that no meeting date had been set.
The Obama administration said the US and Qatar had never agreed to allow the Taliban to use that name on the door and blamed the Taliban for engaging in a game of one-upmanship.
Ms Psaki said that in calls to Mr Karzai on Wednesday and yesterday, Mr Kerry reiterated that the US did not recognise the name "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
"He (Kerry) noted that the government of Qatar has taken steps today to ensure that the political office is in compliance with the conditions established by the government of Qatar for its operations and noted also that we are pleased that the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement clarifying that the name of the office is the Political Office of the Afghan Taliban and not the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and has had the sign with the incorrect name in front of the door taken down," Ms Psaki said.
The consensus among US officials was that the government of Qatar was as surprised as the Obama administration that the Taliban hoisted its flag at the opening of the office and used a banner that named it: "Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan".
Ms Psaki did not react to Mr Karzai's decision to suspend talks on the US-Afghan security agreement, saying only that the US remained committed to continuing negotiations.
Asked if the Obama administration was "taken aback" by Mr Karzai's reaction, she said : "That would be an overstatement. I don't think we (were) expecting everything would be a smooth and sunny road."