By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
January 25, 2019
A co-founder of the Afghan Taliban who was released from detention by Pakistan last year has been appointed as the leader of the militant group’s political office in Qatar.
The move comes as the talks with the United States on a potential deal to bring an end to Afghanistan’s 17-year conflict gain momentum.
The Taliban announced Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar’s appointment in a statement on January 24, saying the move was made to “strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States.”
Baradar, who was released from a Pakistani prison in October last year, has been authorized to lead the political team and make decisions, the Reuters news agency quoted two Taliban sources in Afghanistan as saying.
He will also hold the post of third deputy to Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
The United States said on January 22 that it had resumed talks with the militants in Qatar, where special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was meeting Taliban representatives.
The discussions entered their fourth day on January 24 and it was not clear whether they were to continue on January 25, or how soon Baradar could join the talks.
A senior Taliban official told Reuters that Baradar “will soon fly to Qatar.”
“He has been given the new position because the U.S. wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks,” the official added.
Khalilzad spent the weekend in Pakistan where he held talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan as part of a regional tour that saw the envoy shuttling between India, China, and Afghanistan.
The U.S. envoy has held at least four meetings with the Taliban representatives, but there has been no letup in the violence so far.
Baradar served as the Taliban’s second-in-command under Mullah Omar and coordinated the group’s military operations in southern Afghanistan before his arrest in the Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
His release was part of high-level negotiations, led by Khalilzad, with the Taliban, according to reports.
With reporting by Reuters and AIP
Copyright (c) 2019. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
Related
*Oh my Goodness- I hope you goofy
“parasitic people” are not beginning
to
start
your weird old games,
all over again ?????
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WHO
WAS
MULLAH OMAR ?????
AND; PLEASE, CLARIFY,
WHETHER
WHO
THIS
NEW MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER
REALY IS ?????
.
STOP
THINKING ABOUT
CREATING
NEW FICTIONLAAL
CHARACTERS
?????
.L
FICTIONAL
CHARACTERS. !!!!!p
*You coward savages are
playing
confusing games
on
expense of the innocent folks
of
Afghanistan.
===
==
=
Damn you; leave
people alone !
All based
on
deadly
“trials and errors”
strategy
and
continuation
of
horrific crimes- you will eventually wiuuqpay
for that all !
You rats have inflicted pain
within
every family
inside
Afghanistan- just, get lost !
*YOU ARE
THE PROBLEM !
**
Shut up. Go back to smoking a pole.
No body will trade with your
daily routine- you semi-retard
cannot live
without it !
The coward invaders
and
their stooges m
are
all semi-retard deviants- they do not
know how to behave like a normal bring.
===
==
=
SOON; *YOU ALL
“UGLY RATS”,
WILL BE
“FORGOTTEN HISTORY” !