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Taliban and Hekmatyar: Arch Rivals United by U.S. War Threat
By Hossbanollah Abdel-Baki
PESHAWAR, Oct 5 (IslamOnline) - In the Iranian capital, Tehran, a delegation from the Afghan Taliban movement is currently holding negotiations with Afghan opposition Hizbi-Islami leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, to convince him to return to Afghanistan and join with the Taliban against an imminent U.S. strike.
The Taliban delegation, which started negotiations with Hekmatyar Friday, comprises immigration minister Abdul-Raqib, foreign undersecretary Abdul-Rahman Zahid, leading foreign affairs official Wahid Mezdeh and former Kabul mayor Khawaja Muhammad.
Both Mezdeh and Muhammad have been Hizbi-Islami members and maintain strong relations with Hekmatyar.
According to analysts, the Taliban's move is an attempt to block former Afghanistan King Zaher Shah's project of a national coalition government, and an attempt to unite with opposition forces the U.S. plans to use in its war on Afghanistan.
Hekmatyar has notably warned the U.S. against a military strike on Afghanistan, emphasizing that the U.S. would certainly be defeated in case of war.
In an interview Tuesday with Al-Jazeera television, Hekmatyar said, "If the United States wages a war on Afghanistan, all Afghan factions shall unite against it in defense of their homeland."
Hekmatyar further warned that if the U.S. opted for war, it would be bracing for the same defeat the Soviet Union suffered in its invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
"The U.S. administration is wrong in it's pinning the blame for the New York and Washington attacks on Osama Bin Laden," said Hekmatyar. "It has failed so far to present one proof to counter his categorical denial of his involvement."
Hekmatyar held the U.S. responsible for a would-be destruction of the Afghan people.
"The Afghans will be the sole victim of a U.S. military strike," he said.
The U.S. is known to have exerted strong efforts - since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington - to draw Afghan opposition factions to its side in an attempt to weaken the Taliban.
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