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Afghanistan

Latest political coalitions mainly seeking power share, says Hekmatyar

2017-07-21

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... in his latest remarks has said the new political coalitions or fronts are formed mainly to seek share in the power. Hekmatyar made the remarks during a meeting with a group of the youths of the country in his residence. He said the politicians should admit their failures and respond to the demands of the people rather blaming each. According to Hezb-e-Islami leader, the political coalitions should not be formed to counter each other and stand against each other but must have specific perspectives and slogans which should not reflect their personal interests. Hekmatyar further added that Hezb-e-Islami will support any movement or coalition that is formed for bring peace and stability, end the violence and conflict, and ensure the Islamic values are protected. He once again called on the politicians for unity and ending the differences in a bid to take the county out of a deadlock. The Hezb-e-Islami leader also insisted that only Afghans can resolve the differences and issues among each other and there should be no expectations from the outsiders and neighbors to assist in this regard. Hekmatyar also called on the youths of the country to step efforts for bring peace and stability and unity in the country. The leader of Hezb-e-Islami was apparently gesturing towards the new political coalition among Gen. Adbul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... , the first vice president, Ata Mohammad Noor, the provincial governor of Balkh and Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... party, and Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the second deputy chief executive and leader of Wahdat-e-Islami party.

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Afghanistan

Dostum: Will go to frontline with 'Suit & Tie' if Taliban did not surrender

2015-08-06

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... has said he will go to frontline if the Talibs did not refrain from violence and surrender to the Afghan cops. Speaking to a gathering of the Afghan cops in Qaisar district, Gen. Dostum said those Talibs who are having better knowledge of the realities should surrender and join the government of national unity. f Gen. Dostum further added that the government will welcome all those Death Eaters belonging to Taliban, Haqqani network or any other bad boy group if they start contacts with the government and understand the ground realities. However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... he warned that he will personally go to the frontline if the Death Eaters did not stop further bloodshed by killing innocent people. He said the Death Eaters do not have the capability to face the Afghan forces however if they resisted he said he will join the Afghan forces in the frontline with the official suit and tie to beat them. Gen. Dostum set a deadline for the Talibs to surrender in northern parts of the country during a trip to northern Faryab province last month. This comes as the acting provincial governor for northern Balkh province of Afghanistan Ata Mohammad Noor also said last month that joint operations will be launched to clear northern parts of the country from the bad boys. Speaking during a ceremony to mark the first day of Eid al-Fitr in Mazar-e-Sharif city, Noor said the operations would be launched based on an agreement reached with First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Second Deputy CEO Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq.

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Afghanistan

Gen. Dostum sets deadline for Taliban militants to surrender

2015-07-21

[Khaama (Afghanistan)] The First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... has reportedly set a deadline for the Talibs to surrender in northern parts of the country. Head of the media and communications for the Vice President's Office Sultan Faizi has told Ariana News that Gen. Dostum has set a week deadline for the Talibs in northern parts of the country to surrender and join grinding of the peace processor. Faizi further added that the steps by Gen. Dostum are taken in coordination with the Presidential Palace. He ruled out concerns regarding the establishment of militia forces to combat the Talibs and insisted that the recent steps by Gen. Dostum are aimed at improving the security situation of the country. This comes as Gen. Dostum said Friday he is personally ready to go to the front line to fight the Talibs if the insurgency activities by the Taliban group persist. During a trip to northern Faryab province of Afghanistan on the occasion of first day of Eid al-Fitr, Gen. Dostum promised to stand with the people of Faryab amid ongoing violence by the krazed killers. He said the previous policies of the Taliban group is not acceptable and emphasized that he is hopeful regarding the ongoing peace efforts by the government. This comes as the acting provincial governor for northern Balkh province of Afghanistan Ata Mohammad Noor said Friday that joint operations will be launched to clear northern parts of the country from the krazed killers. Speaking during a ceremony to mark the first day of Eid al-Fitr in Mazar-e-Sharif city, Noor said the operations would be launched based on an agreement reached with First Vice President Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Second Deputy CEO Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq.

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Afghanistan

Political Parties Criticise Karzai's Durand Remarks

2013-05-07

[Tolo News] A number of Afghan coalition leaders and members of political parties on Monday criticised President Karzai's recent remarks on Durand Line and calling it an attempt to increase public support in the elections. These political parties said that President Karzai wants to make himself a hero with such slogans now that little time is left of his presidential term and that the presidential election is also ahead. Political parties and political coalitions expressed surprise at why President Karzai was silent in the past eleven years and they said that such speeches only have advertising aspects and with such slogans problems of Durand Line will not be solved. A leading member of Afghanistan National Front Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq said that Pakistain in the last ten years had constructed military border check posts and military installations in Afghan territory, and criticised why Karzai was silent so far. "These remarks more seem like fables. If president Karzai wanted to work to clarify this event, he should have worked in the past ten years," Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq told TOLOnews. These party members called Karzai's recent speeches demagogy and added that in recent eleven years, he has not done anything about the issue but even four years ago he impeded negotiations for Durand in Jirg-e Amn. "By benefiting from such national issues, the President wants to stir people's emotions in his own interest in the election," Ahmad Zia Masoud leader of Afghanistan National Front told TOLOnews. "Durand Line issue will not be solved with such slogans. There must be diplomatic talks between both countries," Fazil Sancharaki National Coalition front man said. "President Karzai must find a rational and fundamental solution for this problem and this problem had to be solved 11 years ago. Now such speeches are useless," Moien Marastyal member of Rights and Justice party said. "I think President Karzi can talk about this issue, well he is the president and he has the right to talk about it,"Parliament's First Vice speaker Mirwais Yasini said. Meanwhile, ...back at the the precinct, Lieutenant Queeg was stumped. Who could be leaking Mahoney's information like that?... some residents of Kabul city expressed different views about the Durand Line. "Although these parts belong to Afghanistan, but I think now it is not the time to raise this issue," a Kabul resident told TOLOnews.

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Afghanistan

Mohaqiq Accuses Government of Assassination Attempt

2012-06-08

[Tolo News] Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq has accused government men of being involved in an liquidation attempt on his life on Wednesday night while he was at his office. Mohaqiq, a member of the opposition group National Front and the head of the National Unity Party, said that a group of gunnies attacked the National Unity office in Bamyan province while he was talking to news hounds. Mohaqiq accused the government for planning the attack on his life, saying it feared the plans of the National Front. "The government fears the National Front's plans so it wants to launch a mental war against adherents of to the National Front," he said. He said there was a clash between his security guards and the attackers for some thirty minutes, but he did not mention any casualties. "We have right to speak on the shortcomings and defects of the government," Mohaqiq said. "We have our own programme but we should not be answered with accusations and armed attacks." National Front front man Faizullah Zaki said: "[Former parliamentary member] Najibullah Kabuli himself has said that the National Front must be set on fire, the National Front must be killed, attack the homes of National Front members. Kabuli himself has used such words, so Kabuli is a device of the bully boy circles and these circles were involved in the Bamyan attack."

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Afghanistan

Karzai Refuses to Dissolve Special Electoral Tribunal

2011-03-11

[Tolo News] President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabanni in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... has rejected a proposal by Afghan politicians to terminate the Special Electoral Tribunal that was established at his order to put an end to Afghan parliamentary poll disputes. A number of politicians and the parliament speaker reportedly held a meeting with President Karzai asking him to dissolve the special tribunal, but President Karzai rejected their call. President Karzai said he was urged by Head of Supreme Court to stop meddling in the work of judicial organisations, the politicians said. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, an Afghan MP, who was leading the talks with President Karzai said Head of the Supreme Court suggested three options to the parliamentarians, but did not elaborare further. Mr Mohaqiq sees any review by justice organisations into September votes unconstitutional. The comments come as the special tribunal has started a vote re-count process in most provinces. Afghan politicians had previously decided that if the president refuses to dissolve the tribunal, six members of the Supreme Court will be summoned to the house.

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Afghanistan

Payoff Political Settlement Could Resolve Parliament Row

2011-02-17

[Tolo News] Political settlement will work to have parliamentarians choose a speaker, a newly formed commission suggested on Wednesday. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, head of a newly formed commission to help ease house speaker election said an amendment in parliament's internal regulations or political settlement could bring an end to the current situation. A change in internal regulations in the Afghan House of Representatives helps all politicians to run for the seat, Mr Mohaqiq said. Some Afghan politicians said the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society has shown willingness to cooperate with parliamentarian to choose a head. "The United Nations is willing to cooperate with us. We would welcome if they make any suggestions," said Sayed Ali Kazimi, an Afghan MP. Lawmakers suggested that political settlements should happen transparently. "The settlement should be reached among all MPs, not just some limited groups linked to Sayaf and Qanooni," said Nelofar Ebrahimi, an Afghan MP. Rasool Sayyaf is the Saudi puppet with semi-secret ties to Osama bin Laden. I believe he used to be related by marriage, in fact. Yunus Qanooni is the former interior minister who belongs to the Pandjir Valley group once headed by the late Ahmed Shah Masood. To quickly resolve the problem, serious talks are in progress with the government, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayaf, Mohammad Yonus Qanooni and some other prominent candidates.

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Afghanistan

Afghan assembly grants immunity for war crimes

2007-02-02

KABUL - Afghanistan’s parliament has granted immunity to all Afghans involved in the country’s 25 years of conflict, lawmakers said on Thursday, despite calls by human rights groups for war crimes trials. Carla del Ponte just poured herself a strong drink ... The decision passed on Wednesday in the lower house, Wolesi Jirga, would also cover fugitive Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who now heads his own incompetent militant group, critics and supporters of the move said. Gul is responsible for more than just the recent chaos, he was the bad boy who pushed Afghanistan into final civil war after the Russkies left. Rights groups have strongly pressed the government to punish those guilty of abuses, including some members of parliament and senior government officials, saying justice was vital for peace. But the national assembly said its motion would help reconciliation in a nation shattered by years of war and civil strife that have left almost no family untouched by tragedy. “In order to bring reconciliation among various strata in the society, all those political and belligerent sides who were involved one way or the other during the 2-”decades of war will not be prosecuted legally and judicially,” the motion passed by the assembly says. The United Nations in Kabul objected immediately. “For any process of national reconciliation to succeed, the suffering of victims must be acknowledged and impunity tackled,” it said in a statement. “No one has the right to forgive those responsible for human rights violations other than the victims themselves.” Who are represented by a government, who just decided to forgive them. And who exactly are you to talk about who does the forgiving -- who elected you? The Wolesi Jirga elected in late 2005 includes former senior communist officials, ex-Mujahideen (holy warrior) leaders who fought the Soviets and some former Taleban. “In a way, this provides immunity for all,” Shukria Barakzai, a leading woman activist MP, told Reuters. She was among a small group of delegates who left the session in protest. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a former Mujahideen leader who was among the key legislators behind the amnesty, said it was in line with Karzai’s efforts to push national reconciliation. He also believed the immunity would cover Omar and Hekmatyar. “This is a law and the law will be implemented on all individuals equally,” he told Reuters. The decision was approved days after Karzai again indicated he could consider talks with Taleban leaders to end the bloodshed after the country’s most violent year since the Taleban’s ouster. One of Karzai’s advisers on Wednesday clarified talks would not be held with the Taleban as a political, ideological or military group. I personally think it's a mistake, but I'm sitting in my comfortable study in the States, not in Afghanistan, so I'm really not in a position to judge. Sure would like to see Omar and Gul have work accidents in the real near future.

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Afghanistan

Rabbani backs Qanooni for speaker of Afghan House

2005-12-21

Less than 24 hours after inauguration Afghanistan's parliament faces its first challenge with today's election of Speaker. Former president Sibgatullah Mojadeddi was yesterday elected as chairman of the Upper House, the Senate. Sibgatullah is one of those ineffectual guys that everybody can agree on because he doesn't have a mob... But today's contest pits former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik, backing failed presidential candidate Younus Qanooni against dreaded Pashtun leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. I'd go with Qanooni without hesitation if I was Karzai. Rasool Sayyaf is a creature of the Saudis, a slippery deal maker who'd sell out his Mom and probably give a discount. Qanooni did a right fine job as interior minister during the transition period. He was a follower of Masood, and I think he's a man of caliber in his own right. His disadvantage in politix is being a Tadjik. In a race already marred by charges of vote buying at $600 a vote, factions have forged new alliances that shed ethnic differences for political gain. Sayyaf is accused by rights groups of human rights violations in the civil war that followed the end of the 10-year Soviet occupation in 1989. In this case they're right... Abdul Sayyaf's comrade is former Qanooni ally, Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the fierce Hazara leader who heads Hizb-e-Wahdat, with whom Abdul Sayyaf's forces once clashed. Like Sayyaf, he is accused of rights abuses during the 1992-96 civil war that killed 50,000 people in Kabul. Mohaqiq leads a Shia faction. I can't see him getting along really well with Rasool's Salafists. But I believe Iran owns him, so maybe that accounts for it. Qanooni won over Ahmad Shah Massood's faction and Uzbek strongman Rashid Dostum. The mujahideen hero, married to a Pashtun, hopes to woo Pashtuns, former mujahideen and first time women lawmakers. Shukria Barakzai, one of 68 women parliamentarians could eat into his vote. She's a Pashtun, I believe, but she's a female, which makes her a Pashtun of little consequence. And she's closest thing Afghanistan has to emancipated wimmin, so I'd guess she's a place-holder... Karzai, informed sources say, chose to back Sayyaf over Rabbani after US prodding. My guess would be that's the Soddies, working through tame undersecretaries in our State Department. Being generous, we'll say they don't know any better. It's for sure they weren't paying any attention in the 80s, assuming they were around then. He must find a way of circumventing Abdul Sayyaf's war crimes record, projecting the Paghman chief's Pashtun credentials. Karzai will draw on support from "Pashtuns, independents, democratic intellectuals, women, former communists and Taliban", said analyst Neik Mohammad Kabuli of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Kabul. Analysts say the Abdul Sayyaf versus Qanooni contest pits Pashtuns, who make up 50 per cent of the population, against a coalition of minorities. Who make up the other, more savory, 50 percent.

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Afghanistan-Pak-India

Former commanders and Taliban among Afghan poll winners

2005-11-14

Final results of Afghanistan’s legislative elections show several former commanders of military factions, three old Taliban officials, women activists and several ex-communists won seats in the new parliament. The results of the September 18 vote for the 249-seat lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, and councils in all 34 provinces were finally released on Saturday, after being delayed by a slow count and accusations of vote fraud. Bissmillah Bissmil, chairman of the United Nations-Afghan Joint Electoral Management Body, described the polls as a milestone in the country’s transition to democracy. The UN-organised elections were held on a non-party basis, with all 5,800 candidates running as independents, raising fears that a fragmented parliament will emerge, with members focused on parochial issues as they compete for government resources. That's often what parliaments do, y'know? Sometimes we call it "representing the interests of their constituents," rather than "focusing on parochial issues." President Hamid Karzai has no political party and stayed out of the fray, although several supporters, including two relatives, won parliamentary seats. Yunus Qanuni, leader of an alliance of parties opposed to the US-backed president, also won a seat. The former interior and education minister in Karzai’s government came a distant second to Karzai in the October 2004 presidential election. Qanuni’s brother Haji Baryali said Qanuni and his allies had hoped to win up to half the seats in parliament but it was unclear if they had achieved that goal. My guess is that they didn't, my hope is that they did... Qanuni is an ethnic Tajik and a senior leader of an alliance that helped US-led forces topple the Taliban in 2001, whereas Karzai is a Pashtun, the largest ethnic group and the one from which most Taliban were drawn. The vote was mostly based on ethnic lines because of the dominance of the tribes in their respective regions. Turnout was 6.8 million of about 12 million registered voters. If you've got a tribal system, which Afghanistan doesn't quite, then you've got to have some sort of proportional representation of the tribes. However, while they Pashtuns are tribal in outlook and organization, the remainder of the country isn't. There are Pashtun chiefs of clans, but Uzbek and Tajik and Hazara clans aren't nearly as much of a factor, and as far as I know none of the other ethnic groups are divided into tribes and subtribes like the Pashtuns are. Among others who won seats in the Wolesi Jirga were former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, a conservative ethnic-Tajik cleric from the north who is seen as a Karzai supporter and, according to associates, wants to become chairman of the parliament. Rabbani was, justifiably I believe, sour graping for awhile after the Talibs were ousted. He considered himself the legitimate president of Afghanistan, and I think he was. But he stepped down for the Bonn meeting and he's taken a back seat to Karzai. He's conservative, but he's most definitely not the Taliban. “I see the parliament as an alliance of Karzai with the fundamentalists,” said Abdul Hamid Mubariz, a politician and a former deputy information minister. “Karzai has made the alliance because of his weakness so it would not be a headache for him. Freedom of expression and democracy will suffer.” That last I can agree with. Karzai's had to make some convoluted alliances to assert his control, and he's surprised the hell out of anybody who's been paying attention. Nobody bleats that the Afghan gummint's writ doesn't extend outside of Kabul anymore. Parliament is expected to sit for the first time next month in a renovated old assembly building. One of parliament’s key jobs will be to approve or veto the nomination of cabinet members. An election for a new upper house will be completed by the end of this month. Brief, sternly suppressed vision of Robert Byrd in turban, deferring to "Mah distinguished colleague, the distinguished senator from Pashtunistan..." Several old armed faction commanders, labelled warlords and accused of war crimes by rights groups, also won seats. Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, from the Shia Muslim Hazara ethnic minority, won most votes in Kabul province. Former-commander Abdul Rabb Rasoul Sayyaf, a religious conservative, an ethnic Pashtun and a Karzai supporter, also won. Interesting, to see that Soddy Arabia's man in Afghanistan is a Karzai supporter. Hek and the Talibs were trying to woo him a couple years ago. I thought he'd bite, but he's a wiley devil... Three prominent former Taliban won seats in parliament - ex-commander Haji Mullah Abdul Salaam Rocketi, ex-provincial governor Mawlavi Islamuddin Mohammadi and a senior former security official, Hanif Shah Al-Hussein. Women obtained all 68 seats reserved for them in the Wolesi Jirga, but five provincial council seats in the conservative south and east were left vacant as too few candidates registered.

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