ABU DHABI, Feb 11: Afghanistan’s interim leader Hamid Karzai reopened his country’s mission in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, one of only three countries that once recognized the Taliban.

The official WAM news agency said Karzai, who arrived in the UAE on Sunday on a two-day visit, raised Afghanistan’s flag over the embassy at a ceremony attended by UAE Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Saif Said bin Saed and other officials.

The UAE cut ties with the Taliban shortly after the Sept 11 attacks.

WAM said Karzai expressed hope that the reopening the embassy would be “the cornerstone for a long friendship and fraternal relations in the interest of both countries”.

The UAE approved plans last month to reopen its embassy in Afghanistan and appointed its ambassador in Pakistan as a non-resident envoy in Kabul. The Arab state has pledged up to 36 million dollars in aid as part of global efforts to help rebuild Afghanistan.

Karzai, who is due to deliver a lecture at an Abu Dhabi think tank, will also open an office for Afghanistan’s central bank in the UAE to receive international aid.—Reuters