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[ 26 May 2005 ]
Former Taliban Leader Condemns U.S.-Afghan Pact...
In a statement read out by a neo-Taliban member to Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) on 25 May, Mullah Mohammad Omar criticized the "strategic partnership" declaration signed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush in Washington on 23 May (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 and 25 May 2005). With the agreement, Afghanistan "has been sold out forever" to the United States, Mullah Omar's statement read. "This is not just a Taliban issue...[but] an issue for every independent Afghan," the statement declared. According to Mullah Omar, Afghan government authorities "should be ashamed" for referring to Afghanistan as an independent country and for "turning a blind eye" to the "occupation" of their country. "Our resistance will grow stronger and become more organized," Mullah Omar's statement added. AT
...As Does Iran
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on 25 May said that the long-term military presence of the United States in Afghanistan agreed by Bush and Karzai will cause instability in the region, IRNA reported. "Undoubtedly, the issues [included in the U.S.-Afghan strategic partnership declaration] would inflict heavy military costs on the people in Afghanistan and regional states," Asefi said. Asefi alleged that the United States is storing weapons of mass destruction in Afghanistan. Referring to the deadly student-led protests -- ostensibly in reaction to allegations of desecration of a Koran at the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- Asefi said that Afghans have proved to be against the U.S. presence in their country. While Karzai has blamed foreign hands in the demonstrations that left 16 Afghans dead, analysts and some Afghan media sources have specifically named Iran as fomenting anti-U.S. sentiments in Afghanistan (see "RFE/RL Afghanistan Report," 17 May 2005 and "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 May 2005). AT
Third Former Taliban Official Registers For Elections
Mawlawi Jalaluddin Shinwari, former deputy justice minister under the Taliban regime, registered himself in the eastern Nangarhar Province for the parliamentary elections scheduled for September, Pazhwak News Agency reported on 23 May. "Being an independent candidate, [I] don't have the support of the Taliban," Shinwari stated. He vowed that if elected he would "combat corruption and work for the betterment" of his constituency. Shinwari said the parliament should decide whether Afghanistan should host U.S. military bases. Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil, the former Taliban regime foreign minister, and Abdul Samad Khaksar, who formerly headed the Taliban regime's intelligence department, have already registered themselves as independent candidates in southern Kandahar Province for the parliamentary elections (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 20 and 24 May 2005). Former Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in a statement issued against the U.S.-Afghan partnership, also stated that those former Taliban officials who have "established friendly contacts with the American occupiers for the sake of insignificant positions" will never be forgiven, AIP reported on 25 May. AT
Afghan Leader Visits Nebraska
In his last stop of his four-day visit to the United States, President Karzai visited the Midwestern U.S. state of Nebraska on 25 May, international news agencies reported. Karzai visited Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue where he told U.S. military personal that their efforts and "sacrifice has brought back Afghanistan to the Afghan people," AP reported on 25 May. Karzai also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, home to the Center for Afghanistan Studies, "Omaha World-Herald" reported on 25 May. AT
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