Wakil Muttawakil

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Mullah Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, also called Mullah Wakil Ahmad, and with a surname also spelled Mutawakil, was, before the Afghanistan War (2001-2021), personal aide and spokesman for Mullah Muhammad Omar, and later foreign minister for the Taliban.[1][2] He had, from the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa to just before the 9/11 attack, negotiated with the West regarding Osama bin Laden, although he may not had full support in the Taliban leadership.

He surrendered to local authorities four months after the invasion, and was transferred to American custody, where he stayed for nearly two years. [3] He was the first senior Taliban official to be released, in a form of house arrest. [4] At the time of his release, he was open to the idea of negotiations. It was reported that he might have fallen out of Mullah Omar's favor by suggesting bin Laden be turned over.

Muttawakil emphasized that while the Taliban brought restrictions, they also brought security. He has been mentioned as a possible moderate in long-term peace negotiations for Afghanistan.[5] Released but under surveillance in a 2007 interview, he spoke of the Afghan people needing security, which was the reason the Taliban displaced warlords that had fought the Soviets in the Afghanistan War (1978-1992).

He explained that the Taliban wanted, when they took over, friendly relations, but also wanted their social system. "We are against co-education, but we are happy with separate education...For example, in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, people are studying separately, which is according to Islamic law. If women wear the hijab, they can go to school."

Muttawakil had mixed feelings about Osama bin Laden and other Arab volunteers. "We did not hate them, we had a sort of love in our hearts for them. But it was not worth the price for us -- it was not worth putting our lives in danger, which is what happened...The only solution was for the Arabs to live here quietly, safely, as immigrants. They should have lived here as immigrants, not as fighters."

1998-1999 negotiations

In 1998, he was in discussions with the U.S. about the possible handover of Osama bin Laden, for the 1998 bombings of U.S. Embassies in Africa, following an Afghan trial.[6] He said he "personally discussed U.S. concerns with 'Amir-Al-Mumineen' (Commander of the Faithful) Mullah Omar," and the Taliban still consider Osama bin Laden "innocent," adding, "It is unbelievable that this small man did this to you." The Taliban remained "deeply upset" over the U.S. bombings of training camps in Khost. "The U.S. said bin Ladin had killed innocent people, but had not the U.S. killed innocent Afghans in Khost too? Was this not a crime?" The cable quotes the Taliban official, "I (Wakil said) consider you (the U.S.) as murderers of Afghans."

In 1999, on the day Ahmed Ressam was arrested entering the United States, U.S. State Department counterterrorism chief Michael Sheehan calls Taliban foreign minister called Muttawakil and said [bin Laden] "'is like a criminal who lives in your basement. It is no longer possible for you to act as if he’s not your responsibility. He is your responsibility.' The implied threat is that the US will punish the Taliban, possibly with military force, in response to further bin Laden attack. Muttawakil says he understands and urges the US to use restraint."[7]

Brokered an exchange of prisoners following a hijacking, in 1999

In 1999 terrorists from Jaish-e-Mohammad hijacked an Indian passenger airliner, and flew it to Afghanistan.[8] Muttawakil helped broker an exchange where the crew and passengers were released when India agreed to release the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed group, and two of his deputies.

Warning of 9-11?

He denied the Taliban had any specific prior knowledge of the 9/11 attack, and believes the U.S. may have been planning to destabilize the Taliban before then. Nevertheless, in July 1999, he attempted to send a warning, through an aide, that al-Qaeda was planning a major attack against the U.S., which would draw retaliation onto Afghanistan.[9] Muttawakil, according to the aide, had not learned about the attack from Taliban sources, from the leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Tahir Yildash. That group used Afghanistan as a sanctuary, providing fighters to the Taliban against the Northern Alliance, and working with al-Qaeda against Uzbekistan.

According to the emissary, Mr Muttawakil emerged from a one-to-one meeting with Mr Yildash looking shocked and troubled. Until then, the Foreign Minister, who had disapproved of the destruction of the Buddhist statues in Bamian earlier in the year, had no inkling from others in the Taliban leadership of what Mr bin Laden was planning.[10] Muttawakil's aide spoke to the U.S. consul general, David Katz, in Peshawar, Pakistan, and then to United Nations officials. The Independent confirmed the Katz meeting. Katz told him that the U.S. could not launch an attack to clear foreigners from Afghanistan, and that the warning was not passed to Washington.

The Taliban messenger said Katz replied that neither action was possible. Nor did Mr Katz pass the warning on to the State Department, according to senior US diplomatic sources.

Muttawakil told the aide, to go to the Kabul offices of UNSMA, the political wing of the UN. "These officials heard him out, but again did not report the secret Taliban warning to UN headquarters. A UN official familiar with the warnings said: 'He appeared to be speaking in total desperation, asking for a Mountain Storm, he wanted a sort of deus ex machina to solve his country's problems. But before 9/11, there was just not much hope that Washington would become that engaged in Afghanistan.'" [10]

Defected from the Taliban?

In October of 2001, the month following Al-Qaeda's attacks in the USA, Muttawakil was reported to be in Pakistan.[11] According to the BBC some rumors said he was trying to negotiate an end to the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan; that he was suggesting the Taliban hand over Bin Laden. Muttawakil was reported to have had a 90 minute meeting with Lieutenant General Ehsanul Haq, the head of Pakistan's powerful Interservice Intelligence Directorate. He was rumored to have asked General Haq to lobby United States United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State Colin Powell, that an American ceasefire would allow moderate elements within hte Taliban, like Muttawakil, to push Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to abandon Bin Laden.de

On Monday October 15, 2001, it was reported that Muttawakil had arrived in the United Arab Emirates in order to defect from the Taliban.[11] UAE official denied this report.

Surrender confirmed

The BBC confirmed that Muttawakil had surrendered, after two weeks of negotiation, in early February of 2002.[12][13] Abdullah Abdullah the minister who held the same portfolia in Hamid Karzai's Afghan Transitional Authority as Muttawakil had held under the Taliban, stated that Muttawakil should stand trial for war crimes.

Detention

Fazal Mohammad, detained on suspicion of being a former Taliban commander, was released from American custody for medical reasons in mid-2002.[14]

  • He reported that he had been held in American custody in Kandahar with about 300 other captives, including Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil, and two of his former deputies, Maulawi Khirullah Khairkhwa, and Abdul Hai Mutmaen.
  • He reported that they were fed starvation rations, and their wounds were left untreated.
  • He reported that captives were subjected to sexual abuse, and attacks from dogs.

The BBC reported, on Wednesday, October 8, 2003, that Muttawakil had recently been released from eighteen months of detention in Bagram, and had returned to his families home in Kandahar.[15] Muttawakil is reported to have said:

"I'm good, the police provide security for me, some police forces are guarding my house."

On Monday, July 4, 2005 the BBC reported that spent the three years after his surrender in US detention and under Afghan house arrest.[16] Following the end of his house arrest Muttawakil took positions at odds with those of the former Taliban regime. He said he no longer opposed female education, so long as it was consistent with Afghan culture. And he said that supporting Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda had brought suffering to Afghanistan. But he still defended some other aspects of the Taliban's former policies.

Disowned by the Taliban

On Tuesday October 21, 2003, the Taliban disowned Muttawakil.[17] The BBC was told by a Taliban spokesman that Muttawakil "does not represent our will".

In 2003 Muttawakil's location and status was a matter for speculation.[17] The BBC reported that he had been released from detention from the infamous United States Bagram Theater Detention Facility.

The BBC also reports that the US was guarding him, for his own protection, at their base in Kandahar.[17] They report that aides to Muttawakil assert that the USA has given Muttawakil two choices: join the Karzai government as a spokesman and adviser to the Afghan president; or seek political asylum in a Western country. However, the aides said, Muttawakil wanted to take a break from involvement in Afghan politics, and, if he were to seek Asylum, he would wish to do so in an Arab country.

Position within Hamid Karzai's government

Mutawakil ran for parliamentary elections in September 2005.[16][18] Despite his position with the Taliban leadership, he is now a part of the present government under Hamid Karzai's administration and may even be seen as a moderate.Template:Cn

Move to Kabul

An article in the German publication Der Spiegel, on April 12 2007, about the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, said he had moved into a "...handsome guest house, located in the dusty modern neighborhood Khosh Hal Khan."[19] The Der Spiegel article goes on to state that the new home Karzai's government has provided Zaeef is around the corner from Muttawakil's. Der Spiegel described Zaeef's home as being guarded, inside and out, by a heavily armed security detail. Like Muttawakil Zaeef is regarded as one of the more moderate former members of the Taliban.

Saudi peace talks

During Ramadan, 2008, there were rumors that Saudi King Abdullah was attempting to broker peace talks between the warring parties from Afghanistan.[20] Mutawakil, former Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salem Zaeef and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Fazel Hadi Shinwari were among leading Afghan figures who met with King Abdullah.

Zaeef acknowledged being invited by Saudi King Abdullah to dine with other leading Afghan figures, from the Karzai government, the Taliban, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin|Hezb-e-Islami and other former members of the Taliban.[20] Zaeef denied this meeting should be characterized as "peace talks". He stated that none of the individuals at this meeting had been authorized to conduct negotiations. Zaeef denied anyone discussed Afghanistan at this meeting.

2015 al Arabiya interview

On November 23, 2015, Muttawakil was interviewed by al Arabiya, to discuss the late Mullah Omar, the Taliban's leader, whose death had recently been made public.[21]

Muttawakil said Omar had really died two years earlier, and Taliban officials had withheld that news to prevent splits within the party.[21]

Muttawakil said the widely circulated photo of Omar, missing an eye, was misinformation.[21] He was wearing a disguise for that photo, and he had two healthy eyes. He provided a more accurate photo of Omar to al Arabiya.

References

  1. Profile: Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, BBC, February 9, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
  2. Ahmed Rashid (2000), Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300089023, p. 24
  3. Chris Sands (February 8, 2007), "The Taliban's Past and Future", The Dominion (Canada)
  4. Kate Clark (October 22, 2003), "Taliban ex-foreign minister released", Independent (U.K.)
  5. Mohammed Al Shafey (January 4, 2009), "Who are the "Moderate Taliban"?", Asharq Al-Awsat
  6. Alan W. Eastham Jr., Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan (December 19, 1998,), Usama bin Ladin: Charge Reiterates U.S. Concern to Key Taliban Official, Who Sticks to Well-Known Taliban Positions, Pre-9/11 U.S. Attempts to Drive Bin Laden Out of Afghanistan Repeatedly Unsuccessful, Documents Show; Taliban Official Blames Saddam Hussein for U.S. Embassy Bombings, vol. National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 134 (update), George Washington University National Security Archive
  7. "Profile: Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil", Historycommons
  8. Anirban Bhaumik. India makes public contact with Taliban – 22 years after Jaswant Singh’s meeting with militant leaders on Kandahar Airport, Deccan Herald, 2021-08-31. Retrieved on 2024-02-13. “The then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had a meeting with the Taliban Government’s Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil at the airport in Kandahar in southern Afghanistan and handed over to him Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and two other terrorists, whom Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s government had set free from prison to secure the release of the crew and the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814.”
  9. Kate Clark. Taleban 'warned US of huge attack', BBC, Saturday, September 7, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-1-16. “An aide to the former Taleban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, has revealed that he was sent to warn American diplomats and the United Nations that Osama bin Laden was due to launch a huge attack on American soil.”
  10. 10.0 10.1 Kate Clark. Revealed: The Taliban minister, the US envoy and the warning of September 11 that was ignored, Independent (U.K.), 2002-09-07. “The minister then ordered him to alert the US and the UN about what was going to happen. But in a massive failure of intelligence, the message was disregarded because of what sources describe as "warning fatigue".”
  11. 11.0 11.1 Taleban minister's 'peace role' mystery, BBC, Wednesday, October 17, 2001. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  12. Karzai frees 300 Taleban soldiers, BBC, Saturday, February 9, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  13. U.S. begins questioning Taliban foreign minister, CBC News, Sunday, February 10, 2002. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  14. Taliban prisoner claims sex abuse in Afghan jail, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 2002-07-28. Retrieved on 2007-7-3.
  15. Confusion over 'freed' Taleban figure, BBC, Wednesday, October 8, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Ex-Taleban chief's brother killed, BBC, Monday, July 4, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-4-12.
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Taleban 'turn on ex-minister', BBC, Tuesday, October 21, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  18. Ex-Taleban chief to run in polls, BBC, Wednesday, May 18, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-7-1.
  19. Olaf Ihlau. Ex-Taliban Official Calls for Unity Government in Afghanistan, Der Spiegel, April 12 2007. Retrieved on 2007-7-01.
  20. 20.0 20.1 Taliban and Afghan officials break bread, The Age, 2008-10-07. Retrieved on 2008-10-06.
  21. 21.0 21.1 21.2 Exclusive: Mullah Omar confidante reveals insights on late Taliban leader, al Arabiya, 2015-11-23. Retrieved on 2024-02-13.