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January 27th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Mr Qalamuddin, once chief of the Taliban’s “vice and virtue” police,
told The Daily Telegraph the envoys were all well-educated, fluent in
English and considered moderate, but committed to the movement.
He suggested all had travelled with the knowledge of Nato and the United
States, though added Taliban figures were also able to flout travel
sanctions easily by using counterfeit passports.
Abdul Hakim Mujahid, deputy leader of the peace council and the Taliban’s
envoy to the UN at the time of the September 11 attacks, said one of his
secretaries from New York, Sohail Shaheen, was also in Qatar.
The delegation was completed by Hafiz Aziz Rahman, the Taliban’s third
secretary in Abu Dhabi before 2001, who has lived in Qatar for several years.
“He played a very important role in this process,” said Mr Mujahid. “They
have all moved there,” he added.
Western sources confirmed the men were believed to be either in Qatar, or
heading there, and the delegation made a “plausible” negotiating
team.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, would not comment on the
names, but confirmed a “preliminary” delegation was in Qatar.
Diplomats in Kabul have stressed the office is not finally agreed and any
resulting talks would likely take years, but have expressed cautious
optimism that it may pave the way to a peace process.
By opening the movement to face-to-face scrutiny, they argue it will force the
Taliban to articulate their demands and make it harder for them to continue
an indiscriminate bombing campaign.
However deep mistrust remains on all sides.
Marc Grossman, American special envoy to the region, this week said during a
visit to Kabul that he wanted clear statements from the Taliban that they
had distanced themselves from international terrorism and were committed to
a political settlement.
Others fear the Taliban still calculate they can defeat Nato by simply waiting
for troops to withdraw. They argue the office is a ploy to buy time, or that
it will only be used for fund-raising in the Gulf.
Davood Moradian, professor of political science at the American University of
Afghanistan and a former aide to Mr Karzai, said the West and Afghans “had
scored three own goals” by agreeing to it.
“We have given them political space, we have provided them with another
source of funding and undermined the anti-Taliban forces,” he said.
Mr Karzai’s inner circle are suspicious the office is an American attempt to
cut a secret deal behind their backs and Kabul withdrew its ambassador to
Doha in protest at the lack of consultation.
The Taliban also doubt America is genuine about negotiation, Mr Mujahid said,
and have demanded the release of five senior leaders from Guantanamo Bay as
a confidence-building measure.
Bloodshed is likely to continue even if the office opens as both Nato and the
militants first continue their military campaigns to try and strengthen
their bargaining positions.
Mr Mujahid said: “I think this is natural. Each side will try to show
their superiority on the battlefield. This is the nature of the battlefield
and the conflict, that each side try and show itself stronger.”
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