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| Afghanistan |
| Mullah Baradar's Arrest Threatens Peace Talks |
| 2010-04-11 |
| [Quqnoos] Top Afghan officials have criticised as counterproductive the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the No 2 Taliban official in Pakistan. The Afghan officials say its main effect has been to derail Afghan-led efforts to secure peace talks with the Taliban, making that peace ever more remote, according to the Washington Post report. It's almost as if the Paks don't want peace in Afghanistan ... Senior Afghan officials in the military and presidential palace accuse Pakistan of orchestrating the arrest of Baradar and others to take down Taliban leaders most amenable to negotiations. Some of the official have told The Post that Afghans had been in secret contact with Baradar before his arrest and that he was prepared to join the 1,400 people descending on Kabul next month for a peace conference. Despite Afghan requests, Pakistan has refused to hand over Baradar and other Taliban leaders. Previously, US officials had requested to take charge of interrogation of Baradar. If the Afghan government "were talking to him, why did they allow him to leave Afghanistan?" a Pakistani official said. "If he was so important [to the peace process], he himself should have stayed there. If he was so important to the jirga, why did the United States provide the information that allowed us to catch him?" Both Afghans and their NATO allies want a negotiated solution to the nine-year-long insurgency, although there are differences of opinion among Afghanistan's Western partners -- and within some Western governments -- on how and how quickly negotiations should proceed. |
| Posted by:Fred |