Afghan High Peace Council chief dead at 84

Pir Sayyid Ahmed Gailani was a strong proponent of peace talks between Kabul and Taliban

The head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, tasked with negotiating an end to the country's protracted conflict, has died at the age of 84, Radio Free Afghanistan reported on Sunday.

Pir Sayyid Ahmed Gailani died as a result of an illness at a hospital in Kabul on Saturday, it quoted deputy head of the council Abdul Khabir Ochqun as saying.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani is expected to appoint Gailani's replacement soon. At the moment, however, it is not clear who Gailani's successor will be.

Gailani rose to prominence during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s as a resistance leader and the founder of the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan – one of seven US-backed groups that fought against the Soviet invaders. He had been a strong proponent of peace talks between the government in Kabul and Taliban insurgents.

The previous head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, former president Burhanuddin Rabbani, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in 2011.

Condolence message

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Sunday expressed deep grief over Gailani’s demise. “The services of Pir Saheb and his efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan and promote reconciliation will always be remembered,” he said in a statement, expressing condolences on behalf of the people and government of Pakistan.

The Foreign Office too issued a statement on Sunday expressing ‘sadness and heartfelt condolences’ over Gailani’s death. “Pir Saheb was an influential religious leader who was widely respected in Afghanistan and throughout the region for his contributions towards Islam and the Afghan nation,” the FO spokesman said. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT BY OUR CORRESPONDENT IN ISLAMABAD AND AGENCIES)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd, 2017.