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| Afghanistan |
| Taliban Names Anti-U.S. Leadership Council |
| 2003-06-24 |
| The shadowy leader of Afghanistan's former Taliban regime, Mullah Omar, has named a 10-man leadership council to organize resistance against foreign troops in the country. Pakistani newspaper, The News, quoted a Taliban spokesman as saying Mullah Omar announced the formation of the body in an audio tape sent from his hiding place in Afghanistan. Must have borrowed Binny's tape deck. In the tape, Mullah Omar called on the Taliban to make sacrifices to drive out U.S. and other foreign troops and the "puppet" government of U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai, the paper quoted Mohammed Mukhtar Mujahid as saying. The paper said members of the Rahbari Shura, or leadership council, were mostly Taliban military commanders and most were from the southwest of the country. The paper said the council included former defense minister Mullah Obaidullah and military commanders, including the one-legged Mullah Dadullah and Akhtar Mohammad Usmani. Mullah Abdul Rauf, a provincial governor in the Taliban regime, told Reuters the council was formed after five days of talks that ended Monday between senior Taliban officials at an undisclosed location in southern Afghanistan. "The Shura was formed to expedite jihad (holy war) against occupation forces and strengthen the Taliban movement," he said. Mullah Abdul Samad, a Taliban intelligence official, said the council had already begun its work. "Now jihad will be waged against the U.S. and allied forces under a new military strategy," he said, but gave no details. "The new and improved 2003 Jihad!" Afghan officials have said they believe Taliban leaders like Mullah Omar and Usmani have been taking refuge in Pakistan and have called on Islamabad to act against them. |
| Posted by:Steve |