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Foreign Taliban troops may be handed to UN: Rabbani
Captured foreigners who had fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan could be handed over to the United Nations, President Burhanuddin Rabbani said on Sunday.
Captured foreigners who had fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan could be handed over to the United Nations, President Burhanuddin Rabbani said on Sunday.
``These foreigners who ask pardon from us, we will hand them over to the United Nations. They will know what to do,`` Rabbani said. He said fears the northern alliance would massacre so-called ``Arab Afghans`` loyal to fugitive Osama bin Laden`s al Qaeda network were baseless. ``Our view is that we are dealing with the Arabs on a humanitarian and Islamic basis. They should not have concern,`` Rabbani told a news conference.
He said some former Taliban officials could be accepted into a future broad-based government for Afghanistan, but the Taliban as an organisation would be given no role. ``I should emphasize that the Taliban as an organisation or party will not be included, but as individuals they will not be held guilty. Those that do not have very obvious guilt and are elected by a Loya Jirga are acceptable,`` he said.
Rabbani was ousted by the Taliban when they captured Kabul in 1996, but he retains UN recognition as president. The Northern Alliance has said it backs the idea of a traditional Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of tribal chiefs and elders, to agree a broad-based post-Taliban government.
Bureau Report
``These foreigners who ask pardon from us, we will hand them over to the United Nations. They will know what to do,`` Rabbani said. He said fears the northern alliance would massacre so-called ``Arab Afghans`` loyal to fugitive Osama bin Laden`s al Qaeda network were baseless. ``Our view is that we are dealing with the Arabs on a humanitarian and Islamic basis. They should not have concern,`` Rabbani told a news conference.
He said some former Taliban officials could be accepted into a future broad-based government for Afghanistan, but the Taliban as an organisation would be given no role. ``I should emphasize that the Taliban as an organisation or party will not be included, but as individuals they will not be held guilty. Those that do not have very obvious guilt and are elected by a Loya Jirga are acceptable,`` he said.
Rabbani was ousted by the Taliban when they captured Kabul in 1996, but he retains UN recognition as president. The Northern Alliance has said it backs the idea of a traditional Loya Jirga, or grand assembly of tribal chiefs and elders, to agree a broad-based post-Taliban government.
Bureau Report