"Things are moving very very fast, at hundred miles an hour."
Taliban Foreign Minister Wakeel Ahmad Mutawakil and Frontier Regions Minister Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani returned to Afghanistan after discussing in Islamabad the formula of a broad-based government in Kabul that would exclude their supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, knowledgeable sources confirmed to Dawn.
They said that Mutawakil, who crossed over into Pakistan via Miramshah, headquarters of FATA's North Waziristan Agency, from Khost province early this week, was taken straight to Islamabad. Maulvi Haqqani, a former Mujahideen commander hailing from Khost had facilitated Mutawakil's visit, but he himself had entered Kurram Agency via Spina Shaga. He, too, was taken to Islamabad for consultations.
Indicating major political changes in Afghanistan in the next few days, the source remarked: "Things are moving very very fast, at hundred miles an hour."
Sources also said that the so-called moderate section in the Taliban, including Mutawakil, had been able to prevail and impress upon Mulla Omar to find ways to bring an end to the US bombing and save their country from further destruction.
They said that Mutawakil had come with the consent of Mulla Omar and has now gone back. Mutawakil went to Kandahar while Maulvi Haqqani to Paktia, they added.
Mutawakil, sources said, had brought the formula of a broad-based representative government in Afghanistan that would exclude the hard-liners, including Mulla Omar.
At a joint news conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and President Gen Pervez Musharraf did not rule out the possibility of giving representation to the moderate faction of the Taliban in the future dispensation. Islamabad has officially denied Mutawakil's visit.
According to these sources, the "moderates" in the Taliban who have expressed their willingness to join the bandwagon against Mulla Omar included two cabinet ministers and the all powerful head of one of the Afghan zones whose switch-over could prove decisive in pulling the rug from under the feet of Mulla Omar and his supporters.
The hard-liners spearheaded by Mulla Omar include Justice Minister Mulla Nooruddin Turabi, Intelligence Chief Qari Hamdullah, Defence Minister Mulla Ubaidullah, the governor of Heart and head of the western zone, Mulla Khairullah Khairkhwa; Kandahar Governor Mulla Mohammad Hassan and Mulla Dadullah, commander of the 4th Corps in Kabul.
Sources said that efforts were now being made by some Ulema, scholars and tribal notables to persuade Mulla Omar to step down and surrender Osama bin Laden in a last ditch effort to salvage the situation and seek a peaceful transition to a more representative government.
Mutawakil's visit to Islamabad coincided with the arrival of a delegation sent by former king Zahir Shah, led by his former foreign minister Hedayat Amin Arsala. The delegation has been lodged at the Frontier House in Islamabad.
Saleem Shahid adds from Quetta: Taliban Foreign Minister Abdul Wakeel Mutawakil passed through Quetta and Chaman on his way to Kandahar on Wednesday night after what is believed important meetings in Islamabad.
Border officials of both Pakistan and Afghanistan at the check post informed this correspondent on Thursday that Mutawakil had passed on Wednesday night.
Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef is in Kandahar for about a week and is reported to have carried some important message from Islamabad to his government.
Reports suggest that a small but effective group of moderates among the Taliban in Kandahar is mounting pressure on Mulla Omar and others to take some steps to save people from the US bombing. However, Mulla Omar and most of the commanders are disagreeing with the moderates.
Sources said that Mulla Zaeef is expected to arrive in Quetta some time on Thursday night. |
