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Mix-Ansicht- Ich dacht, das Thema Taliban sei laengst durch. - XERXES, 12.02.2002, 16:16
Ich dacht, das Thema Taliban sei laengst durch.
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By Andrew Marshall
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 12 (Reuters) - More than 15 top Taliban leaders, most of them ex-cabinet members, are in contact with Afghan authorities in Kandahar over their possible surrender, a senior official told Reuters on Tuesday.
"Right now we are in contact with more than 15 top Taliban," said Khalid Pashtoon, a senior aide to Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzai."We are trying to convince them to surrender peacefully, with dignity, and we promise them they will not be mistreated."
Asked whether Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was among them, he said:"No. He knows the consequences if he surrenders."
But Afghan security officials said they hoped the Taliban leaders could provide information to track down Mullah Omar, and even help locate the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
On Friday, Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil surrendered to officials in the southern city of Kandahar and was handed to U.S. forces based at the city airport.
Muttawakil, who for years was one of Mullah Omar's closest confidantes, was the most senior Taliban leader to surrender so far.
Asked whether he was confident that more Taliban leaders would follow Muttawakil and turn themselves in, Pashtoon said:"Yes. But it depends on our work, and our efforts."
He said most of the Taliban leaders holding negotiations with Afghanistan's interim authority were cabinet level, but he declined to disclose their names.
He also declined to say where they were, and whether they were negotiating as a group, or separately.
SECRET TALKS
Officials in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar previously denied any knowledge of Muttawakil's surrender. But on Tuesday, Gul Agha told reporters that his administration had secured the surrender, and that Pashtoon had played a key role in the negotiations.
Pashtoon said the secrecy had been necessary to prevent other fugitive Taliban leaders and members of bin Laden's al Qaeda network from attempting to assassinate Muttawakil.
"We didn't want to reveal his identity right away, especially before he surrendered, because anything could have happened to him," Pashtoon said.
"Al Qaeda could have attacked us or tried to capture or kill him. So from a security point of view we had to keep it secret. He was worried for his own security."
Originally a student taught by Mullah Omar, Muttawakil won the Taliban leader's trust and became his driver, food taster and translator. He progressed to being the regime's official spokesman and was later appointed foreign minister.
But security sources in Kandahar say Muttawakil, considered one of the Taliban's more moderate members, broke with Mullah Omar in late 2001 due to a disagreement over the Taliban's refusal to hand over bin Laden and his al Qaeda allies.
This means Muttawakil is less likely to have up-to-date information on Mullah Omar's whereabouts, the sources say.
They say other Taliban leaders will be watching the treatment the ex-foreign minister receives before deciding whether to turn themselves in.
Pashtoon said the United States had given assurances that, unlike al Qaeda prisoners, Taliban officials would not be taken out of Afghanistan and would be handed back to the Afghan authorities if they cooperated during questioning.
"The Americans say that they will not take Taliban to Cuba. As long as they co-operate, they give whatever they know, they will be released. I can assure you that Mullah Muttawakil will be released. I don't know when, but he will be released," he said.
"Then we will talk with him. As long as he has not committed any atrocities there will be an amnesty for him."
Security sources say Muttawakil has been moved from the U.S. base at the airport to a more comfortable location for questioning. But Pashtoon said he could not confirm this.
"He is somewhere in Kandahar, I can tell you that much," he said."That's all I can say."
((Andrew Marshall via Islamabad newsroom, +92 51 227 4757, Fax +92 51 227 4759))
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