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Taliban Says Europe Wants To Spark War
KABUL, April 2 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Afghanistan's Taliban militia Monday accused Europe of fanning the flames of war in the troubled country by inviting opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood to address the European Parliament.
"The visit will further embolden the opposition, who have been isolated by the nation, to continue their resistance," Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel said.
He said the European Parliament, which is expected to hear an address from Masood on Thursday, should be more concerned about sending badly needed humanitarian aid to the country, which is ravaged by war and drought.
Masood, the former defense minister and leader of the northern-based anti-Taliban opposition, has been invited to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week.
It will be a major diplomatic coup for the opposition commander, who has led the resistance against the Islamic militia since 1996 when the Rabbani government was driven from Kabul.
The invitation came weeks after the Taliban infuriated the international community by defying pleas not to destroy ancient statues, including two colossal Buddha figures in the central province of Bamiyan.
"Masood's visit and the statues' destruction are two separate issues, which have got nothing to do with each other," Mutawakel said.
The Taliban, which control most of the country with a strict interpretation of Islamic law, yearn for international recognition but so far only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have obliged.
"The French government had ominously warned the Taliban that they would earn the world's hostility if they went ahead with the destruction of the statues," wrote Rahimullah Yusafzai, a columnist with The News daily in Pakistan, and a follower of Afghan affairs.
"The Western media's interest in Masood, often portrayed as the Lion of the Panjshir for defying the Soviet Red Army ... has always been high, and one should be ready for saturation-level coverage," Yusafzai wrote.
He said Masood would almost certainly use his speech to launch a "verbal tirade" against neighboring Pakistan, which is widely accused of supplying the Taliban with vital technical and material military assistance.
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