Taliban minister girds himself for Afghan election

[CHIMO]

AFGHANISTAN is seeing the first signs of the Taliban’s rehabilitation, with former foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil being allowed to file his candidacy for the upcoming parliamentary elections and give his first world interview to a newspaper – the Sunday Herald.

Mutawakil is the only major Taliban figure to have been arrested and released by US forces and is due to run for office in his home city, the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar.

After turning himself in during the early months of 2002, Mutawakil was detained for two years at Bagram prison, eight months of which he spent in solitary confinement.

Before Karzai left for Washington, there were anti-US demonstrations in several Afghan cities. Fifteen protesters were shot dead by Afghan security forces and, in the eastern city of Jalalabad, several non-governmental organisation buildings and UN offices were burned down. However, Mutawakil trod a careful diplomatic line when asked about the US presence.

http://www.sundayherald.com/50006

And now the rst of the story.(Newsweek)

[rodeodance]

1. te he--sure does not fit with the Bush vision of democracy