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Taliban Adopt Counter Strategy
By Amir Latif, IOL Correspondent in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD, Oct 23 (IslamOnline) - The Taliban have delineated a counter strategy to frustrate a U.S.-led campaign to set up a broad-based government in the war-ravaged country in place of the ruling militia, an unnamed senior Taliban official told IslamOnline here on Tuesday.
The Afghan Minister for Border and Tribal Affairs and Chief of Southern Command, Mualana Jalaluddin Haqqani, has been assigned this task, the official said.
Haqqani, who is considered the most senior commander of Taliban militia, had been in Pakistan with a delegation last week, where he met senior Pakistani officials and tribal leaders.
"He will remain in touch with tribal chiefs in Pakistan and Afghanistan to avert another move aimed at coaxing these chiefs," he added.
Besides Islamabad, the Afghan minister also visited Peshawar and the tribal areas of the North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) "to gain the support of tribal chiefs for Taliban regime."
"He [Haqqani] was sent to Pakistan by Amir-ul-Mominin [Mullah Omar] on the reports that Pakistani and U.S. officials are threatening or coaxing the tribal chiefs to join their campaign to topple Taliban government," the Afghan official said, adding that "A recent meeting of some so-called former
jihadi [fighter]commanders held in Peshawar last week was also the result of that pressure."
The unnamed senior Taliban official admitted that some of the tribal chiefs, squeezed by the Pakistani government's pressure, had parted ways with the Taliban. The official said this is why "the Taliban government has decided to send its delegations to these tribal chiefs."
These chiefs have been offered representation of their tribes in a new post-Taliban Afghanistan, claimed the official. "The Taliban," he added, " have countered it by appointing some tribal chiefs on important government posts."
Former Prime Minister Gulbadin Hikmatyar has been personally contacted by Taliban leader Mullah Omar. The opposition leader has been asked by Omar to help reconcile the Taliban with neighboring Iran.
"Hikmatyar is so far successful in his mission and a testimony to the fact is that the Iranian leadership has refused to meet the representative of Zahir Shah", he said.
Intekhab, one of Iran's largest circulated newspapers reported on Tuesday that President Khatami has refused to meet the representative of Former King Zahir Shah.
However, the newspapers did not elaborate on the reason behind Khatami's refusal.
A Taliban delegation is also about to leave for China to meet the Chinese leadership. The Afghan official added that "China is our friendly country and it has never interfered in our internal matters. We are hopeful that we would gain its [China's] support in our war against U.S.A."
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Taliban official said the U.S.-led western media had tried its best to create rifts between China and the Taliban government by publishing various reports that the latter is involved in disturbance in the former's eastern province of Xinang, where the majority of Chinese Muslim Uighurs live.
China has long been accused of religious intolerance and discrimination, sometimes violently, against the separatist Muslim movement in Xinang.
"Mullah Omar personally assured [the] Chinese delegation that Taliban has nothing to do with Uighur Muslim movement in Xinang. In fact, the Northern Alliance is responsible for trouble in this province at the behest of U.S.A.," he maintained.
"Talks are also underway with former jihadi leaders who are not with Northern Alliance, to accommodate them in the present regime," he added.
Haqqani and his delegation separately met the chiefs of the Achakzai, Alizai, Yusufzai, Hassan zai and other tribes and relayed to them the "special messages" of Mullah Omar, the official added.
"His [Haqqani] meeting with the leaders of Achakzai Tribe, which is said to be one the most powerful tribes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was very crucial as some of the leaders of this tribe are favoring the so-called broad-based government in Afghanistan," he maintained.
"However, the situation is now satisfactory as a majority of the tribal leaders have assured him of their full support to Taliban government. They have told Haqqani and his delegation members that they would not become part of any move to topple Taliban government."
These tribes have also assured the Afghan delegation that they would not provide any military or logistic support to Northern Alliance or to former King Zahir Shah, who seek to capture Kabul, the official contended.
The unnamed senior Taliban official said although Haqqani had left Pakistan with successful results, some of the delegation members were still in Quetta and Peshawar and were visiting the tribal areas of these cities as part of 'counter strategy."
To a question regarding the meeting of former Jihadi commanders, he said, "That meeting has no significance or impact because these so called commanders have no influence inside Afghanistan. They are just being used as puppets."
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