| | Taliban chief 'captured during secret deal' Irish Times
03/16/2010
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The Taliban’s deputy leader was holding secret talks with the Afghan government when he was captured in Pakistan, and his arrest infuriated president Hamid Karzai, it emerged today.
The detention of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - second in the Taliban only to one-eyed Mullah Mohammed Omar - has raised new questions about whether the US is willing to back peace discussions with leaders who harboured the terrorists behind the September 11th attacks.
Mr Karzai “was very angry” when he heard that the Pakistanis had picked up Baradar with help from US intelligence, an adviser said.
Besides the ongoing talks, he said Baradar had “given a green light” to participating in a three-day peace jirga that Mr Karzai is hosting next month.
Talking with the Taliban is increasing in Afghanistan as thousands of Nato reinforcements are streaming in to reverse the insurgents’ momentum.
Reconciliation was one topic Mr Karzai and President Barack Obama discussed during a more than one-hour video conference yesterday.
Baradar’s arrest has already prompted Pakistan and others to stake out their positions on possible reconciliation negotiations that could mean an endgame to the eight-year war.
Officials have disclosed little about how Baradar was taken last month in the port city of Karachi. The Pakistanis were said to be upset that the Americans were the source of news reports about his arrest.
The capture was part of a US-backed crackdown in which the Pakistanis also arrested several other Afghan Taliban figures along the porous border between the two countries, after years of being accused by Washington of doing little to stop them.
Far from expressing gratitude, members of Mr Karzai’s administration were quick to accuse Pakistan of picking up Baradar either to sabotage or gain control of talks with the Taliban leaders.
Top United Nations and British officials emphasised last week that the time to talk to the Taliban is now. The Afghan government, for its part, has plans to offer economic incentives to coax low- and mid-level fighters off the battlefield. Another driving force is Mr Obama’s goal of starting to withdraw US troops in July 2011.
AP
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