TT On-The-Go
TT Feed
| Taliban may launch political party: source |
|
 |
 |
 |
Font Size 
 The Afghan Taliban have been considering a “political solution” to end a decade-long conflict in Afghanistan, a senior Taliban leader has revealed.
“We must launch a political movement to achieve the goals for which we have made so many sacrifices,” said Mullah Agha Jan Mutasim, former head of the Taliban Political Commission and a close confidant of the militia’s elusive leader Mullah Omar.
“The Taliban leaders whose names have been removed from the UN black list will play an important role in the political process,” he told Pakistan’s daily The Express Tribune. However, he added that the warring faction was the “vital part of the Taliban.”
Pakistan’s influential politico-religious leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman recently met with Taliban representatives in the Qatari capital of Doha in an effort to broker peace talks between the extremist group and the Hamid Karzai administration. Officially, both sides denied the meeting.
“We are waiting for conductive conditions to make a formal announcement,” said Mutasim, when asked about the possible launch of their political party.
Mullah Mutasim was a minister in the Taliban regime before it was toppled by the United States and its allies in 2001. He had survived an assassination attempt in Karachi in 2010, and now lives in Turkey.
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan began in October 2001. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of about over 100,000 U.S.-led troops.
  Socialize this Subscribe to our RSS feed to stay in touch and receive all of TT updates right in your feed reader
|