Taliban should not be isolated as they need to be brought into the mainstream: Rehman Malik

Islamabad: Former Interior Minister and Chairman Institute of Research and Reforms (IRR) Senator A. Rehman Malik said Monday that it is unfair at the present to keep Taliban isolated as they need to be brought into the mainstream and be made a part of the international community.

“Let us see how the international community takes up the matter of Taliban in the UNSC to resolve it,” he questioned.

He said that the announcement of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was made first during the time of President Obama but that time, the warmongering policy of the USA to overpower the Middle East was in full swing as part of the great idea of President George W. Bush to take over Middle East and Iran. He said that President Obama had stated that the US forces and CIA had achieved their longstanding target and objective in capturing and killing Osama Bin Laden. He said that President Obama had also confirmed that the U.S. was holding preliminary peace talks with the Taliban leadership and also the UN Security Council. He said that Mr. Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, both presidential candidates were trying to succeed President Hamid Karzai and had promised to sign a security agreement with the USA as a prerequisite of any post-2014 U.S. troop presence, hence the drawdown was slowed down leaving behind 8400 troops. He said that in October 2018, the newly appointed U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, ZalmayKhalilzad, travelled to Doha to explore the potential for peace talks in a meeting with the Taliban, and on 25th October 2018, Pakistan finally released former Taliban deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, upon US’ request. The U.S. and Taliban began overt bilateral negotiations in Doha, agreeing to discuss military withdrawal, counterterrorism, and a ceasefire while the talks continued over the next eight months, he added.

Former Interior Minister Rehman Malik further said that to conclude, Pakistan mediated, and finally, in February 2020 the US and the Taliban signed an agreement in Doha in which all foreign forces were supposed to quit Afghanistan by May 2021 and the credit of this agreement goes to General Qamar Javed Bajwa and General Faiz Hameed, DG ISI. He said that Taliban negotiation teams and the Afghan government had gathered in Doha face to face for the first time after the Afghan government completed the release of 5000 Taliban prisoners. He said that acting U.S. Defence Secretary Christopher C. Miller had announced plans to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 by mid-January 2021 and earlier President Biden also had announced that they will withdraw forces by September 11, 2021, but as a hasty and dramatic development, Biden mysteriously ordered a quick evacuation of troops in August 2021.

Chairman IRR Rehman Malik said that the FBI report on the 9/11 incident sheds light on the meeting of a Saudi government employee, Omar Al Bayoumi with the hijackers in a restaurant which was portrayed as a chance meeting by the Commission but now the meeting is painted as a pre-planned and well-orchestrated event as the witness to the meeting saw Bayoumi waiting by the window of the restaurant for the hijackers rather than running into them by chance and they had a long conversation together. He said that the report also suggests that Thumairy and Bayoumi were also linked to known international terrorists on a phone tree and the latter was in ‘almost daily contact’ with a man having ties to the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Centre attack and Thumairy’s phone was linked to people having connections with the Millennium Plot Bomber. He said that that Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks himself was a Saudi national but the question arises why Afghanistan and Pakistan are constantly blamed despite non-involvement. He asked that why Pakistan, despite its evident and remarkable role in US War on terror and the Afghan peace process, is being accused of harboring terrorism?

Rehman Malik said that Al-Qaeda was formed in the 1980s when young Muslims from around the world joined the Afghan mujahedeen as volunteers in a jihad against the Soviet Union who was called, gathered, and trained them in Afghanistan by the USA. The USA gave birth to the Mujahedeen by portraying itself as a messiah for Muslims and used them against its arch-rival for its geopolitical objectives and the wealthy Saudi, Osama Bin Ladin, was one of those Mujahedeen brought by the USA to be trained. He said that USA deliberately left these Mujahedeen behind to create a state of civil war in Afghanistan so that it could have a reason to interfere in Afghanistan in the future. He questioned that the point to ponder here is that all of these attacks happening afterward were carried out inside Muslim territories and by the Muslims themselves until the 9/11 attack happened and why did the CIA not interfere when it was aware of possibility of something happening? He said that US has deployed its forces in almost every Muslim country in the name of security and protection but who is the enemy that would harm them?

Senator Rehman Malik said that the only reason behind the USA blaming Afghanistan and Pakistan is that the unity between both will not let anyone to create unrest in the region so, the superpower once again left behind the bone of contention after sudden evacuation for the whole region to deal with.