(From left to right) Maulvi Mohamed Nabi Umari, Mullah Abdul Haq Waseeq, Mullah Noorulallah Noori, Mullah Mohamed Fazil Akhund and Mullah Khairullah Khairkhuwa.

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

“No member from the Taliban political office in Doha was part of the delegation from Qatar that went to Guantanamo Bay to receive the five leaders freed on May 31 in exchange for a US soldier held captive by the Taliban,” a senior Afghan Taliban source told Gulf Times yesterday.

“The United States freed five ‘brave and important’ Taliban leaders in exchange for their one low ranking soldier,” he stressed.

In a landmark prisoner exchange deal between the US and the Afghan Taliban, five Taliban leaders, who had been detained for 13 years, were handed over to a delegation from Qatar.

At the exact time, American soldier Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, held captive by the Taliban since June 2009, was handed over to a US Special Forces team in Khost, Afghanistan.

About the delegation to whom the Americans handed over the five prisoners, the senior Afghan Taliban source said: “Right now, I only can confirm, there was no one from our side in the delegation.”

The Taliban political office members only met their freed comrades when they reached Doha.

The Taliban have described that the five released men were “brave and important leaders’ of their movement, who had experienced the battlefield. They also held high ranking positions in the past.

The Taliban confirmed that Mullah Mohamed Fazil Akhund was the Islamic Emirate’s Chief of Army Staff; Mullah Noorulallah Noori was head of the North zone and governor of Balkh in Afghanistan; Mullah Khairullah Khairkhuwa was minister of interior and later head of west zone and governor Herat; Mullah Abdul Haq Waseeq was the deputy chief of the intelligence agency; and Maulvi Mohamed Nabi Umari was described only as the Frontier Corps Commander, who had done important work for the movement.

Moreover, in a “comment” piece released yesterday, the Taliban said that the release of their five important leaders was “good news” for the “independence” of Afghanistan. It quoted their chief Mullah Omar as saying that “this great success is an indication of the good news that independence of our entire country [Afghanistan] is near and gives us hope that Inshallah the Afghan mujahedeen will bring the ship of high hopes of the Afghan people near to the shore.”

All the five released Taliban officials were now living in Qatar and were spending most of their time “resting”, after spending 13 years at the dreaded Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Documents leaked by WikiLeaks about these five Taliban members also confirm that they were high ranking officials. About Mullah Mohamed Fazil, Joint Task Force Guantanamo said that he was the Taliban deputy minister of defence during Operation Enduring Freedom. He served as chief of staff of the Taliban army and commander of the 22nd division. He was accused of possible war crimes, including the murder of thousands of Shia Muslims.

About Mullah Noorulallah Noori it said he was a senior Taliban military commander in Mazar-e-Sharif during hostilities against US and coalition forces in late 2001. He was also the Taliban governor for the Balkh and Laghman provinces. He too was accused of possible war crimes, including the murder of thousands of Shia Muslims.

Mullah Khairullah Khairkhuwa was described as a senior Taliban official serving as the minister of interior, governor of Herat, and a military commander. He was linked with OBL, Mullah Omar and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was also alleged to be a narcotics trafficker.

Abdul Haq Waseeq was the Taliban deputy minister of intelligence. He was said to be central to the Taliban’s efforts to form alliances with other groups to fight alongside the Taliban against US and coalition forces after the 11 September 2001 attacks. He was accused of utilising his office to support Al Qaeda and to assist Taliban personnel elude capture.

Maulvi Mohamed Nabi Umari was alleged to be not only a Taliban official, but also considered close to Al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network, and the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin.

 

 

 

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