|
Noor reacts to political agreement report with Ghani for leaving Balkh
[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The provincial governor of northern Balkh province Ata Mohammad Noor He was appointed in 2004 by President Hamid Karzai. An ethnic Pashtun, he was a high school teacher before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; after the conflict began, he worked in education for the Mujahideen, who gave him the nickname "The Teacher." He then became an anti-Soviet mujahideen resistance commander for the Jamiat-e Islami. When the Taliban took power in late 1996, Atta Noor served as a commander in the anti-Taliban United Front (Northern Alliance) under Ahmad Shah Massoud. He led operations in the Balkh area. He has been described by The Economist as being "immensely wealthy". If I remember correctly, Noor took over as Northern Alliance military commander after the assassination of Massoud. has rejected reports of political agreement with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to leave Balkh and assume a key post in the capital. Noor issued a statement after a report emerged on a local newspaper suggesting that the prominent political figure belonging to Jamiat-e-Islami has agreed to leave Balkh province. The Afghan Jamiat emerged from the Pak Jamiat, but then diverged greatly in terms of political Islam. During the Soviet war the Pak Jamaat supported Hekmatyar, who colluded with the KGB and KhAD against the Pandjir Valley mujaheddin. Calling the report as baseless, Noor said he had discussions with President Ghani in consultation with the President of Jamiat-e-Islami regarding the power share of their team, insisting that respect to the share of their belongs to those who have stood with the party following a same path. He said no agreement has been reached regarding his transfer from Balkh to capital Kabul as he emphasized that he serves for the nation. In the meantime, sources close to Ata Mohammad Noor rejected the report as baseless and said the governor and chief executive of Jamiat-e-Islami is currently in United Arab Emirates. Munir Farhad, a spokesman for Ata Mohammad Noor said no political agreement has been concluded between Noor and President Ghani. The report published by Hasht-e-Sobh daily quoted anonymous officials saying that the agreement has concluded and Noor will be transferred to Kabul to assume a key post in the government. The paper also added that the new governor of northern Balkh province has been selected in line with the demands of Noor who is politically close to him. Posted by: Fred 2016-11-03 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=472005 |