Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil
Encyclopedia
Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil was the last Foreign Minister in the Taliban government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
.
Prior to this he served as spokesman
and secretary to Mullah Mohammed Omar
, leader of the Taliban. After the Northern Alliance accompanied by U.S.
and British
forces ousted the regime, Muttawakil surrendered in Kandahar
to government troops.
In 2005 he announced that he would be a candidate in the elections for the House of the People
.
, Tohir Yo‘ldosh
(leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
) learned that al Qaeda was planning to use hijacked airliners to attack the United States
on September 11, 2001, prior to the attacks.
The BBC reported that Yo‘ldosh then informed the Taliban's Foreign Minister, Muttawakil, who sent an envoy to warn the USA of al Qaeda's attack plans prior to September 11, 2001. The reason the BBC offered for Yo‘ldosh to initiate an advance warning to the USA of the attacks was that he was concerned that an al Qaeda attack on the USA would trigger an American counter-attack, which would imperil the safe haven his group had been enjoying in Afghanistan.
.
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
Ehsan ul Haq
, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate
. He was rumored to have asked General Haq to lobby United States
Secretary of State
Colin Powell
, that an American ceasefire would allow moderate elements within the Taliban, like Muttawakil, to push Taliban leader Mullah
Mohammed Omar
to abandon Bin Laden.
On Monday October 15, 2001, it was reported that Muttawakil had arrived in the United Arab Emirates
in order to defect from the Taliban. UAE officials denied this report.
Abdullah Abdullah
the minister who held the same portfolio in Hamid Karzai's Afghan Transitional Authority as Muttawakil had held under the Taliban, stated that Muttawakil should stand trial for war crimes.
,
detained on suspicion of being a former Taliban commander, was released from American custody for medical reasons in mid-2002.
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 family's home in Kandahar.
Muttawakil is reported to have said:
On Monday, July 4, 2005 the BBC reported that Muttawakil spent the three years after his surrender in US detention and under Afghan house arrest.
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.
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. The BBC reported that he had been released from detention from the 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
.
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.
W.A. Muttawakil's brother Maulvi
Jalil Ahmed was for six years a Muslim
cleric in the city of Quetta
, Pakistan
. He was killed during a shooting incident in Quetta in July 2005.
, 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."
The 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.
was attempting to broker peace talks between the warring parties from Afghanistan.
Muttawakil, 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
and other former members of the Taliban.
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.
On January 27, 2010, a United Nations sanctions committee removed him as well as four other former senior Taliban officials from this list, in a move favoured by Afghan President Karzai
. The decision means he and the four others would no longer be subject to an international travel ban, assets freeze and arms embargo.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
.
Prior to this he served as spokesman
Spokesman
A spokesperson or spokesman or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have received formal training in journalism, communications, public relations and...
and secretary to Mullah Mohammed Omar
Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
, leader of the Taliban. After the Northern Alliance accompanied by U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
forces ousted the regime, Muttawakil surrendered in Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
to government troops.
In 2005 he announced that he would be a candidate in the elections for the House of the People
House of the People (Afghanistan)
The House of the People or Wolesi Jirga , abbreviated WJ, is the lower house of the bicameral National Assembly of Afghanistan, alongside the House of Elders....
.
Reportedly warned the USA of the upcoming attack of September 11, 2001
According to the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Tohir Yo‘ldosh
Tohir Yo‘ldosh, born Tohir Abduhalilovich Yo‘ldoshev , cofounded the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan , an Islamist organization active in Central Asia, with Juma Namangani in December 1991...
(leader of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan is a militant Islamist group formed in 1991 by the Islamic ideologue Tahir Yuldashev, and former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani—both ethnic Uzbeks from the Fergana Valley...
) learned that al Qaeda was planning to use hijacked airliners to attack the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on September 11, 2001, prior to the attacks.
The BBC reported that Yo‘ldosh then informed the Taliban's Foreign Minister, Muttawakil, who sent an envoy to warn the USA of al Qaeda's attack plans prior to September 11, 2001. The reason the BBC offered for Yo‘ldosh to initiate an advance warning to the USA of the attacks was that he was concerned that an al Qaeda attack on the USA would trigger an American counter-attack, which would imperil the safe haven his group had been enjoying in Afghanistan.
Defected from the Taliban?
In October 2001, the month following al Qaeda's attacks in the USA, Muttawakil was reported to be in PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
According to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Ehsan ul Haq
Ehsan ul Haq
General Ehsan ul Haq , is a retired four-star general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Military until October 8, 2007...
, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
. He was rumored to have asked General Haq to lobby United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
, that an American ceasefire would allow moderate elements within the Taliban, like Muttawakil, to push Taliban leader Mullah
Mullah
Mullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
Mohammed Omar
Mohammed Omar
Mullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
to abandon Bin Laden.
On Monday October 15, 2001, it was reported that Muttawakil had arrived in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
in order to defect from the Taliban. UAE officials denied this report.
Surrender confirmed
The BBC confirmed that Muttawakil had surrendered, after two weeks of negotiation, in early February 2002.Abdullah Abdullah
Abdullah Abdullah
Abdullah Abdullah is an Afghan politician and a doctor of medicine. He was an adviser and friend to Ahmad Shah Massoud, legendary anti-Taliban leader and commander known as the "Lion of Panjshir". After the fall of the Taliban regime, Dr. Abdullah served as Afghanistan's Foreign Minister from 2001...
the minister who held the same portfolio 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 MohammadFazal Mohammad
Mullah Fazal Mohammad is a citizen of Afghanistan and formerly a Taliban militia commander who was captured on November 25, 2001.According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he was the Taliban militia's "commander in Afghanistan's southern region along the Pakistan border" in 2001...
,
detained on suspicion of being a former Taliban commander, was released from American custody for medical reasons in mid-2002.
- He reported that he had been held in American custody in KandaharKandaharKandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
with about 300 other captives, including Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, 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 family's home in Kandahar.
Muttawakil is reported to have said:
On Monday, July 4, 2005 the BBC reported that Muttawakil spent the three years after his surrender in US detention and under Afghan house arrest.
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.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. The BBC reported that he had been released from detention from the 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
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
.
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.
Present
Muttawakil ran for parliamentary elections in September 2005.W.A. Muttawakil's brother Maulvi
Maulvi
Mawlawi is an honorific Islamic religious title given to Sunni Muslim religious scholars or Ulema preceding their names, similar to the titles Maulana, Mullah, or Shaykh. Mawlawi generally means highly-qualified Islamic scholar...
Jalil Ahmed was for six years a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
cleric in the city of Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. He was killed during a shooting incident in Quetta in July 2005.
Move to Kabul
An article in the German publication Der SpiegelDer Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, on April 12, 2007, about the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
Abdul Salam Zaeef
Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef was the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan before the US invasion of Afghanistan.He was detained in Pakistan in the fall of 2001 as an and held until 2005 in the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp...
, said he had moved into a "...handsome guest house, located in the dusty modern neighborhood Khosh Hal Khan."
The 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 AbdullahAbdullah of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005...
was attempting to broker peace talks between the warring parties from Afghanistan.
Muttawakil, 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
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, is the King of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded to the throne on 1 August 2005 upon the death of his half-brother, King Fahd. When Crown Prince, he governed Saudi Arabia as regent from 1998 to 2005...
to dine with other leading Afghan figures, from the Karzai government, the Taliban, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan Mujahideen leader who is the founder and leader of the Hezb-e Islami political party and paramilitary group. Hekmatyar was a rebel military commander during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and was one of the key figures in the civil war that followed the...
's Hezb-e-Islami
Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin
The Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin is an Afghan islamist political party.The original Hezb-e-Islami was founded in 1977 by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar who is now the head of HIG. The other faction is headed by Mulavi Younas Khalis who split with Hekmatyar and established his own Hezbi Islami in 1979...
and other former members of the Taliban.
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.
Sanctions
In 1999, the UN Security Council established a sanctions regime to cover individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban. Since the US Invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the sanctions were applied to individuals and organizations in all parts of the world, also targeting former members of the Taliban government. Muttawakil was added to this list in 2001 .On January 27, 2010, a United Nations sanctions committee removed him as well as four other former senior Taliban officials from this list, in a move favoured by Afghan President Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
. The decision means he and the four others would no longer be subject to an international travel ban, assets freeze and arms embargo.