Taliban’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar could be the next President of Afghanistan

Taliban’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar could be the next President of Afghanistan
2021-08-18T07:06:26+00:00

Shafaq News/ Abdul Ghani Baradar, the co-founder and Taliban’s political leader, arrived in Afghanistan on Tuesday for the first time in more than two decades.

The spokesperson of the Movement Zabihullah Mujahid held the Taliban's first news conference since capturing Kabul announcing that Baradar, the head of the Taliban's political office and one of the chief negotiators in the failed Afghan peace talks returned to the Country.

It's still unclear who will lead the new “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” as president, but Baradar is widely viewed as the public face of the Taliban movement.

According to Reuters, Baradar, reported to have been one of Mullah Omar's most trusted commanders, was captured in 2010 by security forces in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi and released in 2018.

Both fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and rose to political power after the Soviet withdrawal. In the late 1990s, Baradar served as the Taliban’s governor of several provinces, among the leaders presiding over a regime that conveyed power through repression and violence. Washington Post reported.

Baradar became the highest-ranking Taliban leader to address the group's victory on Sunday, urging humility following the unexpectedly swift collapse of the Afghan government and pledging to now "serve and secure our people." Axios said.

The Washington Post wondered, “How will someone who split his last decade between a Pakistani prison and a luxury hotel in Doha govern a country where all state structures evaporated in a day?”

When he arrived in Qatar last year for negotiations over power-sharing in Afghanistan, he was soft-spoken and less visible than others in the Taliban contingent. The Newspaper added.

He adopted the language of reconciliation, saying the Taliban was seeking “an Islamic system in which all people of the nation can participate without discrimination and live harmoniously with each other in an atmosphere of brotherhood.” It said.

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