suhail shahinda, who is the taliban's international spokesman.ell, let's bring in our guests for today's discussion. from kabul, we're joined by a familiar face, james bays, al jazeera's diplomatic editor who was following those u.n. meetings in doha and kabul this week and has reported extensively afghanistan for many years. from toronto, mina sharif, an afghan rights activist who founded "sisters 4 sisters," a mentorship program for women and girls in marginalized communities. mina also developed "voice of afghan youth," a tv and radio series. and from new york, obaidullah baheer, a lecturer in transitional justice at the american university of afghanistan and the founder of the "save afghans from hunger" campaign. welcome to you all. james, let's start with you. you heard what the taliban spokesperson said there. what happened at the doha conference this week? does anyone have any leverage over the taliban? >> well, it's a real problem. i mean, i think first, let's explain what the doha conference was, and it was criticized by lots of people,