Taliban appoints Mullah Baradar as Qatar political office head
Kabul, Jan 25 (IBNS): In a bid to handle the ongoing negotiation process with the US, the Taliban group has appointed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as the head of its political office in Qatar, media reports said.
Afghanistan's Khaama Press quoted the group's statement and said, “In accordance with the decree issued by the Leader of Islamic Emirate, the esteemed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been appointed as the deputy of the Leader in Political Affairs and the chief of the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate.”
“This step has been taken to strengthen and properly handle the ongoing negotiations process with the United States," it said.
Mullah Abdul Ghani was released from a Pakistani prison last year.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was released from a prison in Pakistan in October last year, has been authorised to lead the political team and take decisions, two Taliban sources in Afghanistan told Dawn News.
As per Dawn News report, US special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad’s meeting with the Taliban representatives, which was originally due to run over two days, entered its fourth day on Thursday.
However, it is not clear whether the talks will continue till Friday.
“Baradar will soon fly to Qatar. He has been given the new position because the US wanted senior Taliban leadership to participate in peace talks,” a senior Taliban official told the Pakistani newspaper.
A team of ISI and the US Central Intelligence Agency that arrested him in 2010.
He was the key person who coordinated the group’s military operations in southern Afghanistan, media reports said.
His release, according to security experts, was part of high-level negotiations led by Khalilzad with the Taliban, Dawn News reported.
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