Protection of culture: Taliban made to face music
Sulaiman bin Hidayath Al-Beshawari
Abblikation pindi (Copyright NSN).
March 1, 2007
PESHAWAR (NSN): In a stunning reversal of the hardline fundamentalist policies of the Taliban, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, deputy to the elusive one-eyed bearded fundamentalist spiritual chief and former Pakistan supported ruler of Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammad Omar was taken to a music performance in Quetta, a federal government official has told reporters. The Mullah was made to face the music on Monday, the official said, requesting anonymity due to sensitivity of the matter. It seems the US vice-president had shown hard and firm facts about the Mullah to President Musharraf, undercutting his (tall) stories (about Taliban being in Afghanistan).
"It was very unfair", noted the offical adding, "the president was not looking, he was picking (on) a scrap of paper, when the facts were presented". The president likes the firm and hard facts presented to his face.
The Taliban leader carried a $1 million reward and is the most senior Taliban figure captured ever. Pakistan regularly captures the Al-qaeda #3 after facts are presented to it by the US administration. Pakistan has collected millions of dollars in bounty from captured taliban and Al-qaeda. It plans to use the money for development in Baluchistan, Waziristan, FATA, and other parts of NWFP.
This time President Musharraf was outnumbered, given the hardness of the firm facts both from the CIA deputy-director as well the vice-president, decided it was time to bend (to their requests) and elevate the capture to a #2. His arrest came the day US Vice-President Dick Cheney declined to spend the night after visiting Islamabad. It is also understood that Musharraf's stipend was in danger if he did not coopulate. The new Democratic Congress could cut aid unless Pakistan improves its performance. So there was an extra session with the deputy director to take back unbiased opinion for the congress.
Officials however, denied there was a link with Mr Cheney’s visit and the action which led to his arrest had been planned in advance based on good intelligence."His visa had expired", said the official.
The official declined to give further information but said that two others who were captured along with Mullah Obaidullah “could be” Amir Khan Haqqani, a Taliban commander in Zabul, and Abdul Bari, the former governor of Helmand province. It seems that Musharraf's heart was broken when the vice-president involved the deputy director of the CIA in the revelry. "He thought it was a monogamous relationship", noted the official. The president is trying hard to firmly get back in the fair and good books of the vice-president again.
NATO officials and western diplomats consider Mullah Obaidullah as one of those closest lieutenants of Mullah Omar. The other two were Mullah Akhtar Osmani and Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor. Pakistan is keeping the other 9 (or 17) members of the Taliban leadership council safe until the full complement of its 96 F-16 fighters is delivered. Pakistanies had run out of polish for their older F-16s after the September 11 attacks. It is considered dirty to have unpolished missiles or planes in deeply conservative Pakistan.
Mullah Osmani, who was a former Taliban army chief, was killed in a US air strike in Helmand in December last year. His death was a blow to Pakistani plans for a winter offensive in Afghanistan. "The government still believes it can resurrect the strategic depth", note the official. Now with the spring offensive also under threat, Pakistan will have its work cut out to restore its strategic depth. Hailing from Punjwai district of Kandahar province, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund was widely considered as the military chief of Taliban forces. It may take a day or two for Pakistan to find a replacement for him to lead Taliban's military strategy. "He had wide body (of experience)", said the official.
Previous number three captures from Pakistan include Former Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi who is said to have given the street disclosed the street address of the Mullah to the americans, "We are surprised he could not take the littlest bit of torture", said a Taliban spokesman in Peshawar. "Quetta is becoming quite unbearable", he noted adding that beheadings had stopped having an effect on the spies.
When asked if the arrest of Mullah Omar’s deputy had put the security agencies anywhere close to the elusive Taliban leader, the official said: “Only two of the planes have been delivered so far, and we have also been exhausting the supply of missiles", adding "Had a squadron or two been delivered, he would have been taken by now.”
Pakistan, a deeply conservative muslim moderate nation of 160 million, is aiming for leadership of the muslim world under its martial president Musharraf, who has turned (around) the countries economy from being based upon drug money to one based on fake notes, and money from blackmailing america. Pakistan places great importance upon its F-16 planes, which are routinely polished with the finest wax (derived from sacred goats) and displays them as part of its cultural heritage at all national events.
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Agencies (AP) contributed to this report.
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