A pro-government council of Afghan Islamic clerics said on Saturday Muslim holy war against foreign troops was not allowed and those who shunned reconciliation with the government were rebels.
 That fine point would be why the Talibs weren't defined as terrorists. They're adherents of the ousted government, which puts them in rebellion against the current government. The Paks and the Arabs swarming in and out of the country and blowing things up are terrorists, but they're not Afghan Taliban. |
The Islamic council in the southern province of Kandahar issued a fatwa, or decree, rejecting fatwas issued by Taliban insurgents, including a call for jihad, or holy war, against foreign forces. "We cannot call foreign troops invaders ... jihad against them is not allowed," Ghulam Mohammad, head of the clerics' council, told a news conference in Kandahar town.
| Naturally the current government doesn't describe them as invaders, since they're invited. |
The Taliban, ousted from power in late 2001, have intensified their insurgency to expel foreign troops and bring down the Western-backed government in recent months. Several clerics who have spoken out against the Taliban have been killed over the past few years. Mohammad said foreign forces were in Afghanistan to help the elected government of President Hamid Karzai. "Those who do not accept Karzai's government are rebels," he said. "Those who do not accept the reconciliation process are rebels," he said, referring to government attempts to persuade Taliban to give up and rejoin society. |