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| Afghanistan |
| Karzai Condemns Killing of Taliban Leader, Body Returned to Takhar |
| 2014-02-19 |
[Tolo News] 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... Tuesday condemned the liquidation of Taliban capo Mullah Abduil Raqib, calling him a victim of peace. He went on to invite Raqib's group Tehrik-Islami Taliban to return to Afghanistan. Mullah Abdul Raqiq was gun downed in the Pak city of 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. by unidentified attackers on Monday. On Tuesday, a military helicopter transferred his body to his native town in northern Takhar province. This is not the first time a Taliban leader has been targeted in Pakistain. The U.S. has waged an intensive drone war on Taliban capos throughout Pakistain in recent years. Karzai has been highly critical of the attacks on Taliban leaders, claiming the U.S.' aggression has pushed Taliban leaders away from negotiations. "We saw several green lights from those willing to start the peace negotiation process, but most of them were assassinated," Karzai's deputy front man Fayeq Wahidi said. "The killing of Maullah Raqiq is part of the coordinated murders." Sabotaging peace negotiations is considered the main motivation behind the liquidations, though no evidence has been brought forward to prove that. Participants in the burial ceremony accused the Pak intelligence service (ISI) of being behind the liquidation. "People shared their sorrows in the burial ceremony. He was working for peace. People rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against those killing him; they blamed ISI for the killing," Takhar Governor Abdul Latif Ibrahimi said. As Karzai's last term in office comes to a close, he has pushed an increasingly friendly approach to the Taliban, much to the chagrin of U.S. and its NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... allies. Last week, Kabul announced the release of 65 suspected faceless myrmidons from Bagram prison and just two weeks ago news of secret talks between Karzai and Taliban leaders broke. A delegation of the High Peace Council (HPC) is said to be currently in the United Arab Emirates meeting with representatives of the Taliban. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 ..he'll only be cozy for as long as the T-ban wants. Let's see how well Karzai can ride the tiger, eh.? |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-02-19 22:31 |
| #2 Karzai should of never joined the tea party. The Taliban is all he got left. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2014-02-19 18:54 |
| #1 Sabotaging peace negotiations is considered the main motivation I can't blame him. Obama opened peace talks with the Taliban without Karzai's knowledge. Karzai probably figures he'll get a better deal for himself if he negotiates with the Taliban directly instead, since Obama is unlikely to take Karzai's interests into account. My recollection is fuzzy, but it would not surprise me if Karzai's increasingly conciliatory posture vis-a-vis the Taliban came after news of Obama's talks with the Taliban - that left Karzai in the dark - leaked out. Karzai remembers what happened to Najibullah. He's wise to cozy up to the Taliban while he has a choice. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2014-02-19 16:59 |