TALIBAN RETURINING TO POWER IN AFGHANISTAN
WITH US BLESSINGS:
A senior Iranian lawmaker has said that the United States is seeking to help Taliban militants back into power in Afghanistan.
Deputy Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Ebrahimi said on Wednesday that Washington was after toppling Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.
“The US pursues its goals in the area of foreign policy with a profit-seeking outlook,” he stated, citing the White House's USD-100-million aid package, which is headed for a Taliban liaison office, planned to be set up in Doha, Qatar.
The MP said the US had a history of fostering terrorism, accusing Washington of equipping and training Taliban militants in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to use them against the other countries in the region.
In line with the US policy, “this group rebelled against the government of the late [Afghan President] Burhanuddin Rabbani,” he explained.
Ebrahimi also pointed out the close cooperation between Taliban elements and al-Qaeda militants during Taliban's rule in Afghanistan -- which lasted from 1996 until 2001.
“The US, after the September 11 [, 2001] incident, took on fighting terrorism in Afghanistan as a pretext to pour its troops into the region and occupied Iran's eastern neighbor with the help of NATO forces,” he noted.
The Iranian parliamentarian criticized the u-turn made in Washington's policy and its support for the Taliban and blamed the US for turning a blind eye to Taliban's atrocities against the Afghan nation as means of promoting the US own interests in the region.
On Wednesday, Karzai bowed to pressure from the White House to agree on the opening of a liaison office by the Taliban militant group in the Qatari capital towards the alleged aim of saving Afghanistan from 'conflict, conspiracy and the killings of innocent people.'
Washington had previously agreed with Taliban leaders on the setting up of the office in a deal, which also guaranteed the release of several high-ranking Taliban figures by the US.
Pakistani media also reported last week that the name of Taliban's founder and leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has been in hiding since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, has been taken off the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists. The move infuriated the Afghan government, which has asked the US embassy in Kabul for an explanation.
Top Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Fazl, who has been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since early 2002, is reportedly among those slated for release by the US. The potential release, which has been described as an alleged attempt to facilitate peace talks between the militants and Kabul, comes despite Fazl being accused of human rights abuses.
The US government has also planned new round of talks with the Taliban in early 2012.
.
WITH US BLESSINGS:
A senior Iranian lawmaker has said that the United States is seeking to help Taliban militants back into power in Afghanistan.
Deputy Chairman of the Majlis (parliament) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, Hojjatoleslam Hossein Ebrahimi said on Wednesday that Washington was after toppling Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.
“The US pursues its goals in the area of foreign policy with a profit-seeking outlook,” he stated, citing the White House's USD-100-million aid package, which is headed for a Taliban liaison office, planned to be set up in Doha, Qatar.
The MP said the US had a history of fostering terrorism, accusing Washington of equipping and training Taliban militants in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to use them against the other countries in the region.
In line with the US policy, “this group rebelled against the government of the late [Afghan President] Burhanuddin Rabbani,” he explained.
Ebrahimi also pointed out the close cooperation between Taliban elements and al-Qaeda militants during Taliban's rule in Afghanistan -- which lasted from 1996 until 2001.
“The US, after the September 11 [, 2001] incident, took on fighting terrorism in Afghanistan as a pretext to pour its troops into the region and occupied Iran's eastern neighbor with the help of NATO forces,” he noted.
The Iranian parliamentarian criticized the u-turn made in Washington's policy and its support for the Taliban and blamed the US for turning a blind eye to Taliban's atrocities against the Afghan nation as means of promoting the US own interests in the region.
On Wednesday, Karzai bowed to pressure from the White House to agree on the opening of a liaison office by the Taliban militant group in the Qatari capital towards the alleged aim of saving Afghanistan from 'conflict, conspiracy and the killings of innocent people.'
Washington had previously agreed with Taliban leaders on the setting up of the office in a deal, which also guaranteed the release of several high-ranking Taliban figures by the US.
Pakistani media also reported last week that the name of Taliban's founder and leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has been in hiding since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, has been taken off the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists. The move infuriated the Afghan government, which has asked the US embassy in Kabul for an explanation.
Top Taliban commander Mullah Mohammed Fazl, who has been held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since early 2002, is reportedly among those slated for release by the US. The potential release, which has been described as an alleged attempt to facilitate peace talks between the militants and Kabul, comes despite Fazl being accused of human rights abuses.
The US government has also planned new round of talks with the Taliban in early 2012.
.
