Taliban want sign on their Qatar office resurrected, threaten to scuttle talks

A Taliban spokesman says that some within the Afghan militant movement want to suspend a nascent peace process with the government over a disputed sign in their newly opened office.

Shaheen Suhail told The Associated Press on Saturday that the movement is infuriated over Kabul's demands that they remove a sign that identifies their new office in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Qatar removed the sign Wednesday.

Suhail said the Taliban have negotiated for three years under that name and were blindsided by the objections.

"There is an internal discussion right now and much anger about it but we have not yet decided what action to take," Suhail said in a telephone interview. "But I think it weakens the process from the very beginning."

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Kathy Gannon reported from Islamabad, Pakistan

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Kathy Gannon is AP Special Regional Correspondent for Afghanistan and Pakistan and can be reached at www.twitter.com/kathygannon