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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan Taliban ex-minister gunned down in Peshawar |
| 2014-02-18 |
| [Pak Daily Times] A former minister of the Afghan Taliban who was in favour of peace talks with the Kabul government was bumped off in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on Monday, Afghan Taliban sources said. "Armed assailants riding on a cycle of violence shot Mullah Abdul Raqeeb, a former minister for refugees during the Taliban regime, killing him on the spot," a member of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistain told AFP. Speaking from Afghanistan, another Taliban member said Raqeeb was part of a group in Peshawar "which is in favour of making some connection with the Afghan government over possible peace talks". Raqeeb was coming out of a religious seminary where he had been teaching when he was attacked. Senior Peshawar police officer Muhammad Faisal confirmed the murder. A Taliban office in Qatar that opened last June was meant to lead to peace talks, but instead it enraged Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... after it was styled as an embassy for a government-in-exile. Public efforts at reconciliation have since been frozen. In a written statement, another former Afghan minister Aga Jan Motasim said leaders and jihadi commanders of the Afghan Taliban were being targeted in the Pak cities of Quetta and Peshawar. "Mullah Abdul Raqeeb was working for a peaceful Afghanistan," said the statement. He praised Raqeeb, terming him a learned scholar, politician, social worker and "guardian of thousands of orphans". On Thursday, the Afghan government released scores of alleged Taliban fighters from Bagram prison, leading to criticism from the United States. Some analysts say the releases could help kickstart the moribund peace talks with the Taliban, who were ousted from power in 2001. |
| Posted by:Fred |