Former ambassador of Taliban to Pakistan, Mull Abdul Salam Zaeef rejected the reports of talks between Taliban and Afghan government in Saudi Arabia
07-10-2008
Former ambassador of Taliban to Pakistan, Mull Abdul Salam Zaeef , who recently
visited Saudi Arabia also and said, “The Saudi Government had invited me, former
foreign minister of Taliban Abdul Wakil Mutawakil and Mauliv Arsala Rahmani for
performing Umrah.”
He continued that a delegation of Afghan government led by former chief justice
of Afghanistan Maulvi Abdul Hadi Shinwari was also in Saudi Arabia at that time
to perform Umrah.
“We attended an Aftar dinner on the invitation of King Abdullah on 29th
September which was also attended by delegates from several countries including
the foreign minister of Oman,” Zaeef told Afghan Islamic Press, adding that no
discussion was held on the Afghan issue on this occasion.
He said that they did not represent Afghan government or Taliban.
“As per my information no talks were held between Taliban and government,” the
former detainee of Guantanamo said.
“Our tour was only aimed at performing Umrah and we did not represent any one.
The meeting with King Abdullah was only restricted to Aftar dinner,” Zaeef
added.
On the 7th anniversary of US attack on Afghanistan, the former Taliban
ambassador declared the US attack on Afghanistan as a “big mistake and cruelty”
and said, “At that time, I was ambassador to Islamabad. We had not closed doors
for talks. We repeatedly asked Americans to provide us proof of any Afghan and
Osama Bin Laden’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks so that we can take action
against them. But the US could not and decided to attack.”
Taliban, Karzai govt deny holding talks
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
PESHAWAR: Taliban and even President Hamid Karzai are crying hoarse that they
haven’t held any peace talks yet but it is intriguing that some Western media
organisations are insisting that the two sides are negotiating with help from
the government of Saudi Arabia.
Such reports are being disseminated at a time when British and certain other
Western officials are calling for talks with the Taliban for finding a political
instead of a military solution to the Afghan conflict. Once again on Monday, a
major US television channel reported that an 11-member Taliban delegation had
held talks for four days in late September with Afghan government officials and
that a representative of former mujahideen leader Gulbaddin Hekmatyar also
attended the meetings in the holy city of Makkah. It claimed Saudi King Abdullah
met the Afghan delegates to show his personal commitment to the cause of peace
and reconciliation in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
Earlier, a British newspaper had reported that a former Taliban leader with the
blessings of Saudi intelligence was mediating between the Taliban movement and
the Afghan government. It said the British intelligence was also backing the
effort.
President Karzai promptly denied the report by the British newspaper, though he
disclosed that his government had requested Saudi Arabia to facilitate meetings
and negotiations between it and the Taliban. Regretting that Taliban didn’t
respond positively to his government’s offer of a dialogue, he went to the
extent of referring to Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar as his ‘brother’ and
offered to provide guarantees for his safety if he visited Kabul for talks.
As expected, both Afghan government and the Taliban have denied the latest
reports about their meetings and negotiations in Makkah. An Afghan government
official said in Kabul that no such talks had taken place.
Taliban spokesman Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahmadi made it clear that they had not
sent any delegation to Saudi Arabia for talks. He said Taliban were sticking to
their stand not to hold negotiations as long as foreign occupation forces were
present in Afghanistan.
Another Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said some former Taliban members
may have visited Saudi Arabia but they were no longer part of their movement and
couldn’t represent Taliban in any talks.
It was learnt that former Taliban foreign minister Mulla Wakil Ahmad Mutawwakil,
along with another ex-minister Maulvi Arsala Rahmani and Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef,
who was Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan during the last months of Taliban
rule, visited Saudi Arabia recently to perform Umra as guests of the Saudi
government. At an Iftar-dinner hosted by King Abdullah, the former Taliban
members were among the invitees along with delegates from several other
countries. An Afghan government delegation led by former chief justice Maulvi
Abdul Hadi Shinwari and including lawmaker Abdul Salam Rocketi was also invited
by the Saudi government to perform Umra and attend the Iftar party. The chance
encounter between the Afghans there is now being described by sections of the
Western media as part of a ‘historic’ four-day meeting involving Taliban and
Karzai government officials.
Saudi Arabia, which along with Pakistan and UAE had recognised the Taliban-led
Afghan government, snapped its contacts with Taliban after the 9/11 attacks on
the US. It is understood that the two sides are still estranged with each other
and no effort has been made to revive those contacts.
Zaeef, who was arrested by Pakistani authorities in December 2001 after the fall
of Taliban regime and delivered to the US military, told the Afghan Islamic
Press (AIP) Monday that he and his colleagues visited Saudi Arabia to perform
Umra on the invitation of the Saudi government. However, he insisted that they
neither represented Taliban nor the Afghan government during their visit. “As
per my information, no talks were held between Taliban and the Afghan government
in Saudi Arabia. Also at King Abdullah’s Iftar-dinner on September 29, there was
no discussion whatsoever on the Afghan issue,” he recalled.
Zaeef was freed from the US government’s detention centre in Guantanamo Bay on
the recommendation of the Afghan government and is now living in Kabul. He wrote
a Pashto book, The Picture of Guantanamo, on his years in jail after his
release. The book is being translated into a number of languages.
Taliban leadership is suspicious of Zaeef as well as Mutawwakil and Rahmani
because they are living in Kabul under the protection of the Afghan government.
This is the reason that they have made it clear that the three had no authority
to represent Taliban in any talks. Taliban were unhappy when their former
foreign minister Mutawwakil surrendered to the US military in Kandahar without
consulting Mulla Omar and the Taliban shura. Mutawwakil wasn’t taken to
Guantanamo Bay prison and was freed after remaining imprisoned for sometime at
the Kandahar airbase and Bagram detention cells. Zaeef’s position was different
as he was apprehended by Pakistani authorities even though he had diplomatic
immunity and handed over to the Americans. Rahmani wasn’t arrested after fall of
Taliban regime.