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Former Taliban FM considers asylum, declines cabinet post
Former Taliban foreign minister Mullah Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil has declined a Cabinet post and is considering asylum in an Arab country, possibly Qatar. Muttawakil, Karzai's mediator to the Taliban, was released on last Monday after 20 months in custody at a US military base near Kabul, advisors to Afghan President Hamid Karzai were quoted as saying on Monday by the Time magazine. Taliban hardliners, including former Afghan leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, consider Muttawakil a traitor for having surrendered to US forces and have ordered his assassination. Still Muttawakil has taken the risk of sounding out some of his former comrades in Kandahar, the magazine quoted his family as saying. The unprecedented talks between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Taliban moderates, which began last week, seem to have the Bush administration's blessing. By bringing moderate Taliban onboard, Karzai hopes he can garner support among the Pashtun and split the Taliban's ranks. Karzai's chief aide, Omar Daudzay, told a Kabul radio station that "the talks were initiated at the Taliban's request."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-11-04 |
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