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Taliban leaders defect orthodox Islamic militia
A group of former Taliban officials backed by Pakistan announced Sunday they were breaking with the movement and were reviving their old party which had merged with the former ruling militia years ago.
A group of former Taliban officials backed by Pakistan announced Sunday they were breaking with the movement and were reviving their old party which had merged with the former ruling militia years ago.
The group, which appeared to have Pakistan's backing, included the Taliban's former envoy to the United Nations, Abdul Hakim Mujahid; former head of the Taliban consular department Abdur Rehman Hotak; former deputy education minister Mullah Arslan Rehmani; and a former deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, Mullah Abdul Sattar Siddiqi.
They declared their support for the UN-sponsored peace process and are in contact with Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun tribal leader who will head an interim government to run Afghanistan for six months.
The dissidents said they are reviving an old, pre-Taliban Muslim group - Khudamul Furqan Jamiat or "Association of the Servants of Quran" - which merged with the Taliban, in an attempt to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.
"More than 80 percent of the Taliban are former members of our group," said Ahmed Amin Mujadadi, leader of the group, at a press conference. "Many of them are in contact with us ... Our party doors are open for them."
The announcement came two days after the Taliban lost control of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar - their last stronghold. With Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and his close associates on the run, the dissidents said Omar didn't listen to their advice.
Omar is now no more leader of the faithful, Mujadadi said. It's up to the people to decide whether he should stand a trial as criminal, he added.
The United States attacked Afghanistan on Oct. 7 in an attempt to eliminate Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network - the prime suspect of September's terrorist strikes at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Washington says that it will also want to punish those Taliban leaders who protected bin Laden, including Omar, who is in hiding.
Mujadadi said that the new Afghan government should decide bin Laden's fate. He should leave Afghanistan as Islamic clerics asked him to do soon after attacks in the United States, he said.
The dissidents, who are all from the dominant Pashtun ethnic group, urged the United Nations to give fair representation to all ethnic minorities in the future setup.
"The United Nations must not repeat the mistake it made in Bonn Conference by ignoring significant tribes and political parties and bestowing a great portion of slots ion the minority group of the country," they said in a joint statement.
The anti-Taliban northern alliance, which represents ethnic and religious minorities, got 15 out of 30 seats in the interim ruling council according to pact made in Bonn, Germany.
The dissidents said they want the United Nations to call loya jirga, or grand council of tribes, to form a broad-based government. "We are giving advice to Hamid Karzai. We support him. He is a nice man," Mujadadi said.
Pakistan strongly backed the Taliban until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and has been seeking to maintain influence in Afghanistan now that the country's strongest political group is Islamabad's old enemies - the northern alliance.
The Pakistanis have been urging coalition partners to allow so-called moderate Taliban members - meaning those without close links to bin Laden - to play a political role now that the Islamic militia is gone.
Bureau Report
The group, which appeared to have Pakistan's backing, included the Taliban's former envoy to the United Nations, Abdul Hakim Mujahid; former head of the Taliban consular department Abdur Rehman Hotak; former deputy education minister Mullah Arslan Rehmani; and a former deputy chief justice of the Supreme Court, Mullah Abdul Sattar Siddiqi.
They declared their support for the UN-sponsored peace process and are in contact with Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun tribal leader who will head an interim government to run Afghanistan for six months.
The dissidents said they are reviving an old, pre-Taliban Muslim group - Khudamul Furqan Jamiat or "Association of the Servants of Quran" - which merged with the Taliban, in an attempt to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.
"More than 80 percent of the Taliban are former members of our group," said Ahmed Amin Mujadadi, leader of the group, at a press conference. "Many of them are in contact with us ... Our party doors are open for them."
The announcement came two days after the Taliban lost control of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar - their last stronghold. With Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and his close associates on the run, the dissidents said Omar didn't listen to their advice.
Omar is now no more leader of the faithful, Mujadadi said. It's up to the people to decide whether he should stand a trial as criminal, he added.
The United States attacked Afghanistan on Oct. 7 in an attempt to eliminate Osama bin Laden and his terrorist network - the prime suspect of September's terrorist strikes at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Washington says that it will also want to punish those Taliban leaders who protected bin Laden, including Omar, who is in hiding.
Mujadadi said that the new Afghan government should decide bin Laden's fate. He should leave Afghanistan as Islamic clerics asked him to do soon after attacks in the United States, he said.
The dissidents, who are all from the dominant Pashtun ethnic group, urged the United Nations to give fair representation to all ethnic minorities in the future setup.
"The United Nations must not repeat the mistake it made in Bonn Conference by ignoring significant tribes and political parties and bestowing a great portion of slots ion the minority group of the country," they said in a joint statement.
The anti-Taliban northern alliance, which represents ethnic and religious minorities, got 15 out of 30 seats in the interim ruling council according to pact made in Bonn, Germany.
The dissidents said they want the United Nations to call loya jirga, or grand council of tribes, to form a broad-based government. "We are giving advice to Hamid Karzai. We support him. He is a nice man," Mujadadi said.
Pakistan strongly backed the Taliban until the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and has been seeking to maintain influence in Afghanistan now that the country's strongest political group is Islamabad's old enemies - the northern alliance.
The Pakistanis have been urging coalition partners to allow so-called moderate Taliban members - meaning those without close links to bin Laden - to play a political role now that the Islamic militia is gone.
Bureau Report