Former Taliban leader wants to work for 'peace and stability'

By Farzad Lameh in Kabul
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-02-20

[Farzad Lameh] Mullah Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel, Afghanistan’s foreign minister during Taliban regime.

Mullah Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel, born in 1969 in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, was a founding member of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and then its foreign minister. He studied in Pakistani and Afghan Islamic schools.

He also served as a spokesman for Mullah Mohammad Omar and as a member of the Taliban high council.

When the Taliban regime collapsed in late 2001, he didn't flee the country. Officials of the new government delivered him to coalition forces. After his release from Bagram prison, he spent a period under house arrest in Kabul. His name was on the UN Security Council's sanctions list, but recently the UN removed his name, and those of four other former Taliban officials, from that list. Recently, CAO's correspondent in Kabul conducted an exclusive interview with him.

CAO: What are you doing nowadays? Are you still supporting the Taliban?

Mutawakel: I'm busy with cultural activities such as translating some Arabic books into Pashtu. Nobody should be indifferent to his own country; everybody should do something, whether through consultations or advising or some other way, to do something for his country's peace and stability. I'm interested in doing that.

Even though I was a high-level Taliban government official, I now don't represent the movement or its militants. I'm trying to work solely for peace and stability.

CAO: Do you agree with the proposals of the London Conference?

Mutawakel: In my opinion, priority should be given to an Afghan solution, not to foreign demands. Reconciliation and reintegration should come one after another. First, work should be done on reconciliation. But the London Conference worked on reintegration first.

It's because the international community is not ready to talk to the Taliban leadership and isn't ready to accept the Taliban as a force. It's trying to reintegrate with lower-ranking Taliban first, which in my point of my view wouldn't be easy. I think it's unnatural.

War and peace are the two options for solving the problem. The peace process has its own requirements and peculiarities. [The country] has already tried war for eight years without any significant progress [toward a settlement]. I'm optimistic in the sense that [the London Conference] is the first time that the Afghan peace talks have been discussed internationally. It could bring some positive things.

CAO: As mentioned above, the international community doesn't want to negotiate with the Taliban's leadership. If the Taliban's Mullah Mohammad Omar is removed from the UN blacklist, do you think he'd attend peace talks with the Afghan government?

Mutawakel: I think steps like [removal from the blacklist] facilitate peace and negotiations. They raise the trust level in negotiations. If easy solutions exist, nobody opts for more difficult ones. Nobody chooses war as his first resort.

CAO: Including your name, some of other names were removed from the UN sanctions list recently. What do you think of this action? Could it be helpful toward future negotiations?

Mutawakel: It could be a good step and could prove to be at least a good start. Among the five names, two belong to the opposition but were not involved in violence. Two are serving in the government. The fifth one, Aminzai, was called a Taliban fighter by mistake. He was a government employee, not a combatant. The blacklist removals won't accomplish anything special in talks with the Taliban, but they can furnish some reason for optimism about dialogue.

CAO: Compared to 2003-2004, the security situation has worsened in Afghanistan. What do you think of this deterioration?

Mutawakel: There have been some failures. Some members of the government have been inactive. Corruption and foreign troops' misbehaviour are the reasons that the people are distancing themselves from the government and joining the opposition. Furthermore, nonstop war and lack of a peace process have caused the security situation to worsen.

CAO: What options does President Hamid Karzai have to strengthen Afghanistan's government and bring peace to the country?

Mutawakel: Instead of focusing on the pursuit of additional money at the London Conference, the government should have tried to convince foreign countries that the problem was Afghan and that the solutions should be Afghan.

The government should have demanded elimination of the most-wanted list, the shutdown of the Guantanamo and Bagram prisons and participation of the armed opposition in peace talks, and the international community should have accepted those terms. But neither of those happened. It seems the world is not determined to bring peace to Afghanistan.

CAO: Reports say that UN special envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide recently met with Taliban representatives in Dubai. Are these reports correct?

Mutawakel: When the news of such a meeting in Dubai was reported, both sides, Kai Eide and the Taliban, denied the accuracy of the reports. It was also said that Saudi King Abdullah had met the Taliban and the Afghan government's representatives. Those reports were also based on propaganda. In fact, the Saudi king met only with some Afghans and former Taliban in order to consult with and speak to them. No current Taliban fighters were present on that occasion.

The more important thing is that the UN and Kai Eide are not enemies of the Taliban. If they meet each other, it wouldn't be a surprise, I think, but anyway both sides have denied meeting in Dubai.

CAO: What do you think of suicide bombings in Afghanistan? Are they carried out by Afghans, or there is a foreign hand in them?

Mutawakel: [Suicide bombing] is a technique transferred from the Middle East to Afghanistan as a way of rectifying the balance between unequal foes. It was believed earlier that Afghans weren't carrying it out, but now it is believed to be the Afghans' own continuation of their war.

CAO: What should be done to bring peace? What are your requests of the international community, Afghan government and Taliban?

Mutawakel: In my view, we've accumulated much experience after this long war. It would be worthwhile to pay attention to the government, if it's honest in wanting peace. Both sides should put aside their preconditions and start talking. A commission should be formed in order to start the negotiations by taking the easy steps first and then moving toward the harder parts. The media should also play a positive role. The war can't be ended overnight, but such efforts at least could pave the way to ending the war.

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