Taliban Chief Justice And Defense Minister Will Be Handed Over To US Forces
By Aamir Latif
IOL correspondent in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD, Feb. 2 (IslamOnline) - In line with the former Taliban envoy to Pakistan, Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Chief Justice of Taliban government, Maulvi Noor Mohammed Saqib and Deputy Defense Minister, Abdul Rehman Zahid, who were detained last Wednesday by Pakistani security forces, are likely to be deported back to Afghanistan within a day or two, from where they would be handed over to the U.S. forces, well-placed intelligence sources told IslamOnline Saturday February 2.
The two key Taliban leaders were arrested from Khuchlak, a suburban area of Pakistan’s south eastern city of Quetta after they refused to provide information on whereabouts of Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammed Omar and Osama Bin Laden, sources said.
Sources claimed that on behalf of U.S. forces, some officials of Afghanistan’s interim setup had held more than one meeting with the detained Taliban leaders in Kutchlak and offered them “handsome package” if they provided latest information about Mulla Omar and Bin Laden.
On their continuous refusal, the U.S. “ requested” the Pakistani security high-ups to arrest the former Chief Justice and Deputy Defense Minister, sources added. An interior ministry official on condition of anonymity told this correspondent that arrangements were being finalized to hand over the detained Taliban leaders to the Karzai government.
The detained leaders will either be shifted to the U.S. base near Kandahar airport or a flag-ship in Gulf for interrogation, sources claimed. The CIA and the FBI believe that the two leaders knew much on the whereabouts of Mulla Omar and Osama Bin Laden, sources said.
Pakistan’s military government has already been under a strong domestic pressure for handing over Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef to Karzai administration, which later handed him over to U.S. forces. The 34-year-old Zaeef became famous as the Taliban's principal voice to the outside world following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Pakistan withdrew its support for Taliban and backed the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan after deadly terrorist attacks on New York and Washington September 11, 2001.
