Afghan duo set US-Taliban deal
Kabul, Feb. 28: The path to the US-Taliban deal came down largely to two Afghan men — one working for the US, the other for the militants, their lives shaped by decades of conflict.
On one side was Zalmay Khalilzad — a leading US diplomat who spent the prime of his career attempting to restore order as an envoy in Afghanistan and Iraq following successive US invasions.
Across the table was Mullah Baradar, the seasoned jihadist who spent most of his life as a fighter, first with the mujahideen during the antiSoviet jihad and again as the Taliban’s co-founder.
More than 18 years after being toppled from power, it appears Baradar and the Taliban — with Khalilzad’s help — are again on the verge of returning to Kabul as arguably the most united force in Afghanistan’s chaotic political arena.
Khalilzad, the Afghan hawk: Born in northern Afghanistan’s Mazar-iSharif, Khalilzad learned the tough realities of Afghan life from an early age. In his memoir, he recounted seeing future president Daoud Khan bite off a man’s ear during a brawl. His life changed after he travelled to America for a high school exchange programme, widening his horizons. Fluent in Pashto and Dari, Khalilzad held a commanding position as US ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and was instrumental in forming the new government in Kabul.
In 2018, Khalilzad was again hand-picked to patch up things in Afghanistan, this time by President Donald Trump to lead negotiations with the Taliban.
Baradar, the fighter: Abdul Ghani Baradar was born in the arid badlands of southern Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province and later raised in Kandahar — the future birthplace of the Taliban movement.
Like most Afghans, Baradar’s life was forever altered by the Soviet invasion of the country in the late 1970s, transforming him into an insurgent believed to have fought side-by-side with the oneeyed cleric Mullah Omar.
The two would go on to found the Taliban movement in the early 1990s amid the chaos and corruption of the civil war that erupted after the Soviet withdrawal.
Baradar is believed to be widely respected by the Taliban’s various factions and experts say his presence would help garner support for any deal from insurgents on the frontlines.