On The Jehad Trail

FEW people outside Mewand district in Afghanistan's south-western Kandahar province had heard of Mulla Mohammad Umar before September 1994. A year later, this tall and well-built 34-year-old founder of the Taliban movement has emerged as probably the most powerful man in Afghanistan. As the "ameer" (head) of the Taliban Islamic movement and commander of its Mohammadi Lashkar (force), Umar now controls 14 of Afghanistan's 32provinces. After some spectacular military victories south and west of the capital, his fighters are now poised for a decisive assault on Kabul.

Umar presides over the Taliban central Shura (assembly), the supreme decision-making body comprising about 30 members. He was wounded four times and permanently damaged his right eye in the war against the Soviet army and the Afghan communists.

Somewhat shy, this bearded leader avoids talking to journalists. He granted his first and only interview to this correspondent recently, after much persuasion and a long wait at the Taliban headquarters in Kandahar. He has yet to meet UN peace mediator Mohmoud Mestiri or Pakistan's Foreign Minister Asseff Ahmad Ali and OIC officials or other important visitors to Kandahar. Even during the Shura meetings, he prefers to keep quiet, letting his senior lieutenants do the talking.

Umar stays in the Governor's House in Kandahar. Sitting on the carpeted floor of his office, surrounded by his bearded colleagues, he often recounts his life as a fighter during the Soviet occupation. He calls himself a Talib (student), regretting that he was unable to complete his education due to his involvement first in the Afghan jehad (holy war) and subsequently due to his preoccupations with the Taliban movement. During the jehad, Umar earned fame as a brave fighter and a crack marksman who destroyed a number of Russian tanks with his rockets.

He likes to mix with his people and offer prayers in the mosque, but is a bit careless about his security. Occasionally, he is found sitting with his followers on the lawns of the Governor's House.

A married man with a son, his family lives in a mud house in Singesar village in Mewand district, about 50 km from Kandahar. Near his house is the madrasa where Umar taught and planned his moves during the initial phase of the Taliban movement. His house and madrasa are reminders of his humble origins, though he now travels in an expensive Land Cruiser, captured from a defeated mujahideen commander.

Umar claims the Taliban are trying to resolve all issues through negotiations. "Failure to do so would lead to difficulties and trigger fighting," he warns. He accuses President Burhanuddin Rabbani of trying to foil the UN peace plan and prolong his rule. "Rabbani is not interested in transferring power," he adds.

The turbaned Taliban leader concedes that he never hoped to achieve the string of military successes that came his way in such a short period of time. "But we had complete belief in the God Almighty. He can bless us with victory or plunge us into defeat," he muses. Umar agrees that the Afghan people may not trust the sincerity of the Taliban in establishing a true Islamic system due to the failure of the mujahideen to fulfil similar promises. He said the Taliban had largely implemented their twin objectives of restoring peace and enforcing an Islamic system in the areas under their control. As is well known, this did not go down too well with many.

Umar says both the sexes would be granted rights as ordained by Allah. "We will follow the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet Mohammad while granting rights to men and women," he explains. He argues that the Taliban uprising constitutes a jehad against crime, anarchy and immorality. "We took up arms to achieve the aims of the Afghan jehad and save our people from suffering further at the hands of the so-called mujahideen," he contends. He says the Taliban fighters have been instructed to be kind to the people and strictly follow the Shariat (Islamic code) in all their actions.

Responding to allegations that the Pashtoon and Sunni-dominated Taliban movement would be unable to gain the confidence of the non-Pashtoons, Umar maintains that the Taliban consider Afghanistan a home for all Afghan people and would never discriminate between Kandahar and other parts of the country or between Pashtoons and Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Pashais. "We have a large number of non-Pashtoons in our movement. We have yet to give a reason to the Shias in Ghazni and Herat to complain," he says. But many remain unconvinced.바카라 웹사이트