Talks on in Kabul for govt formation
Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar, other senior leaders arrived in the capital to put together what they call an ‘inclusive’ govt
KABUL: Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for talks on establishing a new “inclusive” government in Afghanistan, a senior official said.
Other senior Taliban leaders seen in the capital in recent days include Khalil Haqqani - one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a $5 million bounty on his head. Pro-Taliban social media feeds showed Haqqani meeting Gulbuddin Hekmatyar a former bitter rival during the brutal civil war of the early 1990s, but still influential in Afghan politics.
A senior Taliban official told AFP that Baradar would meet “jihadi leaders and politicians for an inclusive government set-up”.
Baradar arrived in Afghanistan last Tuesday from Qatar, choosing to touch down in the country’s second-biggest city Kandahar - the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace.
Within hours of his return, the group announced its rule would be “different” this time.
The Taliban have said they want this iteration of their government to be “inclusive”, but have given few details of who it would include.
Arrested in Pakistan in 2010, Baradar was in custody until pressure from the United States saw him freed in 2018 and relocated to Qatar. He was appointed head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where he oversaw the signing of the agreement that led to the agreement for US forces to withdraw and end their 20-year campaign.
The Taliban scotched any hopes of a negotiated peace deal with the Afghan government by overrunning the country in under two weeks - a lightning offensive that ended with them taking Kabul unopposed last Sunday.
On Friday, Khalil Haqqani the uncle of Taliban deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani - was seen leading prayers at a mosque in Kabul. Another key leader of the so-called Haqqani network Anas Haqqani - was also in the capital and had met former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who led the overall peace process for the previous administration.
A Taliban official told Reuters that the group planned to ready a new model for governing Afghanistan within the next few weeks, with separate teams to tackle internal security and financial issues. “Experts from the former government will be brought in for crisis management,” he told Reuters.
The new government structure would not be a democracy by Western definitions, but “it will protect everyone’s rights”, the official added.
The Taliban, who follow an ultra-hardline version of Sunni Islam, have presented a more moderate face since returning to power, saying they want peace, will not take revenge against old enemies and will respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.
When in power from 19962001, they stopped women from working or going out without wearing an all-enveloping burqa and stopped children from going to school.
Karzai, Abdullah meet Taliban’s Kabul governor
Former president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, met with Abdul Rahman Mansour, the acting governor of Kabul for the Taliban.
“We discussed the security of the citizens of Kabul, & reiterated that protecting the life, property & dignity of the citizens of the capital should be prioritised,” Abdullah said in a post on Twitter.
“We added that in order to return to normality in the capital Kabul, it is imperative that citizens of the capital feel safe & secure. Mr Mansour assured us that he would do everything possible for the security of the people of Kabul.”
Abdullah was once Afghanistan’s chief executive in a powersharing agreement with exiled president Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country as the Taliban entered the capital.
Abdullah also said he and Karzai met with Afghan leaders and politicians in recent days to discuss the current situation and ways of providing security to Afghans, especially those in Kabul. The meetings were with members of parliament and women activists, as well as with elders, religious scholars and the commanders of Panjshir province.