Afghan endgame: Baradar doing more for peace in captivity, say officials

Mullah Omar’s former second-in-command has been liaising between Taliban and US, Afghan officials from Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD:

While Kabul may have been seeking the release of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar to expedite the Afghan peace process, Islamabad appears to have its reasons to keep Mullah Omar’s former second-in-command in custody at this stage.

Background discussions with officials familiar with the reconciliation efforts have revealed that Baradar was instrumental in bringing the Taliban leadership to the negotiating table. According to a senior foreign ministry official, Baradar had been quietly communicating not only with the Taliban leadership but also with US and Afghan officials over the past few months.

“Baradar has been allowed to talk to all stakeholders,” said the official, adding, “He played a major part in persuading the Taliban leadership.”

“[Baradar] in fact has been acting as the go-between the Taliban leadership and the US,” he disclosed.



Another official pointed out that the former Taliban number two decided against returning to Afghanistan himself since he felt he could play a better role in the peace process while staying in Pakistan.

Baradar, the former Taliban deputy commander, was captured from Karachi in 2010 by a joint team of CIA and Pakistani intelligence officers. At the time of his arrest, he was reportedly engaged in talks with the US as well as the Afghan government to broker a peace deal.

On Saturday, Afghanistan renewed its demand asking Pakistan to free all Taliban prisoners, including Baradar, to facilitate peace talks.  Although, Pakistan has released over two dozen Taliban prisoners over the past few months, Afghanistan has long been seeking the release of the remaining detainees.

According to reports, Baradar was the day-to-day commander responsible for leading the Taliban campaign against US and Nato troops before his capture.

When asked whether Pakistan would consider the latest request from Afghanistan, foreign ministry spokesperson Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry said Pakistan was committed to considering all necessary steps and efforts that could further the reconciliation process.

Pakistan is seen as key to any peace deal in Afghanistan.

The United States has publicly acknowledged that Islamabad was ‘genuinely’ making efforts to bring peace in Afghanistan. It also said Pakistan had persuaded the Afghan Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

Months-long efforts eventually led to the opening of a Taliban office in Doha, Qatar, though the process is in limbo due to strong reservations expressed by Afghan administration over the nature of the office.

Defense analyst Brig (retd) Mahmood Shah was of the view that while the Karzai administration should be part of the peace process, only direct talks between the Taliban and US could make a difference.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2013.