Taliban power transition raises hopes for Afghan peace talks
In this undated TV grab taken from the Aljazeera channel, Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, Deputy of Omar who took charge talks during an interview at an unknown place.
AFP, Kabul :
The Taliban named Mullah Akhtar Mansour as their new leader on Friday, a historic power transition that raises hopes the relative moderate’s leadership will pave the way for an end to Afghanistan’s bloody war.
The Taliban also announced his deputies – Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads the Taliban-allied Haqqani network and has a $10 million US bounty on his head, and Haibatullah Akhundzada, former head of the Taliban courts.
The appointment of Mansour, seen as a pragmatist and a proponent of peace talks, comes a day after the Taliban confirmed the death of their near-mythical leader Mullah Omar, who led the fractious group for some 20 years.
The Taliban’s first handover of power comes at a time when the US-led Afghan government has been trying to jumpstart peace negotiations as it struggles to contain the intensifying insurgency.
Mansour, a longtime trusted deputy of Omar, takes charge as the movement faces growing internal divisions and is threatened by the rise of the Islamic State group, the Middle East jihadist outfit that is making inroads in Afghanistan.
“After (Omar’s) death the leadership council and Islamic scholars of the country, after long consultations, appointed his close and trusted friend and his former deputy Mullah Akhtar Mansour as the leader,” the Taliban said in a Pashto-language statement posted on their website.
“When Mullah Omar was alive, Mullah Mansour was considered a trustworthy and appropriate person to take this heavy responsibility.”
A Taliban official said that after the group’s ruling council had chosen a successor for Omar, the decision was supposed to be ratified by a college of religious clerics.
Omar’s son Mullah Yakoub was favoured to take over by some commanders, sources said, but at 26 was considered too young and inexperienced for such a key role.
Mansour’s appointment faced staunch internal resistance from some members of the Taliban’s ruling council, the Quetta Shura, who accuse Pakistan of hijacking the movement, sources said. “Mansour is considered as a man of Pakistan – that is why severe differences are going on among the Taliban leadership,” a mid-level Taliban official told AFP.
But the internal opposition is unlikely to prevent Mansour from proceeding with peace talks launched in the Pakistani hill station of Murree earlier this month.
Also read: Mullah Omar did not die in Pakistan, say Afghan Taliban
‘Moderate, pro-peace, pro-talks’
“Mullah Mansour is one of the founders of the Taliban movement and he is a moderate, pro-peace, pro-talks person,” Abdul Hakim Mujahid, a former Taliban official and a member of the Afghan High Peace Council, told AFP.
“I believe that under him the peace process will be strengthened and the Taliban will become part of political process in Afghanistan.”
The confirmation of Omar’s death ends years of fevered speculation about the fate of the leader, who was not seen in public since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban from power.
Meanwhile, the US administration, while describing reports of Mullah Omar’s death as credible, has urged the Taliban to stay engaged with the Afghan government.
“We encourage the Taliban to use this time of transition to make genuine peace with the Afghan government and rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan,” Deputy State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner told Dawn on Thursday.
He said that the reported departure of the rebel leader had created a new opportunity for the Taliban to join the process of restoring peace and stability to their war-torn country.
“They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of the legitimate political system of a sovereign, united Afghanistan, supported by the international community. Or, they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilising their own country,” the US official said.
“The United States continues to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process as the surest way to end violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and the region,” he added.
The Taliban named Mullah Akhtar Mansour as their new leader on Friday, a historic power transition that raises hopes the relative moderate’s leadership will pave the way for an end to Afghanistan’s bloody war.
The Taliban also announced his deputies – Sirajuddin Haqqani, who leads the Taliban-allied Haqqani network and has a $10 million US bounty on his head, and Haibatullah Akhundzada, former head of the Taliban courts.
The appointment of Mansour, seen as a pragmatist and a proponent of peace talks, comes a day after the Taliban confirmed the death of their near-mythical leader Mullah Omar, who led the fractious group for some 20 years.
The Taliban’s first handover of power comes at a time when the US-led Afghan government has been trying to jumpstart peace negotiations as it struggles to contain the intensifying insurgency.
Mansour, a longtime trusted deputy of Omar, takes charge as the movement faces growing internal divisions and is threatened by the rise of the Islamic State group, the Middle East jihadist outfit that is making inroads in Afghanistan.
“After (Omar’s) death the leadership council and Islamic scholars of the country, after long consultations, appointed his close and trusted friend and his former deputy Mullah Akhtar Mansour as the leader,” the Taliban said in a Pashto-language statement posted on their website.
“When Mullah Omar was alive, Mullah Mansour was considered a trustworthy and appropriate person to take this heavy responsibility.”
A Taliban official said that after the group’s ruling council had chosen a successor for Omar, the decision was supposed to be ratified by a college of religious clerics.
Omar’s son Mullah Yakoub was favoured to take over by some commanders, sources said, but at 26 was considered too young and inexperienced for such a key role.
Mansour’s appointment faced staunch internal resistance from some members of the Taliban’s ruling council, the Quetta Shura, who accuse Pakistan of hijacking the movement, sources said. “Mansour is considered as a man of Pakistan – that is why severe differences are going on among the Taliban leadership,” a mid-level Taliban official told AFP.
But the internal opposition is unlikely to prevent Mansour from proceeding with peace talks launched in the Pakistani hill station of Murree earlier this month.
Also read: Mullah Omar did not die in Pakistan, say Afghan Taliban
‘Moderate, pro-peace, pro-talks’
“Mullah Mansour is one of the founders of the Taliban movement and he is a moderate, pro-peace, pro-talks person,” Abdul Hakim Mujahid, a former Taliban official and a member of the Afghan High Peace Council, told AFP.
“I believe that under him the peace process will be strengthened and the Taliban will become part of political process in Afghanistan.”
The confirmation of Omar’s death ends years of fevered speculation about the fate of the leader, who was not seen in public since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban from power.
Meanwhile, the US administration, while describing reports of Mullah Omar’s death as credible, has urged the Taliban to stay engaged with the Afghan government.
“We encourage the Taliban to use this time of transition to make genuine peace with the Afghan government and rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan,” Deputy State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner told Dawn on Thursday.
He said that the reported departure of the rebel leader had created a new opportunity for the Taliban to join the process of restoring peace and stability to their war-torn country.
“They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of the legitimate political system of a sovereign, united Afghanistan, supported by the international community. Or, they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilising their own country,” the US official said.
“The United States continues to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process as the surest way to end violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and the region,” he added.
