 In January 2009, the US intelligence sources stated that two of Taliban's senior fundraisers travelled regularly to the UAE where the Haqqani networks and Taliban laundered money via local front companies.The United Arab Emirates is the only Arab country to serve and contribute forces alongside American Green Beret Special Forces to the mission in Afghanistan.On July 31, 2017, a New York Times' correspondent published an article reportedly based on the information gathered from the leaked emails of the UAE Ambassador to the US, Yousef Al Otaiba, stating that in June 2013, both Qatar and the United Arab Emirates competed with each to host a Taliban embassy.