Friday, September 03, 2021
Ceremony announced in Kabul
The Taliban are apparently planning a government with 25 ministries
The Taliban are currently working on their cabinet. Insiders report that 25 ministries are planned. A man who some believe to be dead is to become a spiritual leader. Politburo chief Baradar and the ambitious son of the Taliban founder, Jakub, play important roles.
Less than three weeks after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, the radical Islamist government is taking shape. The head of the Taliban Politburo, Mullah Baradar, will head the government in Kabul, according to Taliban circles in the afternoon. The son of the late Taliban founder Mullah Omar, Mullah Mohammed Jakub, will hold a high-ranking position in the government, said three insiders. Jakub’s reputation is largely derived from that of his father. In his early 30s, he himself did not have the many years of combat experience on which the authority of other Taliban leaders is based. Since last year, however, as head of the Taliban’s military commission, he has directed all of its operations in Afghanistan.
The presentation of a Taliban government is expected shortly. Taliban representatives had previously said that a ceremony was being prepared in the presidential palace in Kabul. Taliban circles also said that the new government would consist of 25 ministries. The government will also be supported by an advisory board consisting of twelve Muslim scholars. In addition, the Loja Jirga assembly should meet within six to eight weeks, in which representatives of the regions and civil society should discuss a constitution.
The top leader of the Taliban should take on the role of a spiritual head of government, said an insider. Since Achundsada has not spoken out publicly since the Taliban came to power in Kabul in mid-August, rumors were already circulating that he was no longer alive. The legal scholar succeeded former Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansur, who was killed in a US drone attack in 2016.
Achundsada brought rival groups together within the movement and tried to consolidate his power by filling leading positions. According to the United Nations, Achundsada was chief justice during the Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001. One of Achundsada’s sons died in a suicide attack on an Afghan military base in 2017.
As the head of the Taliban’s political bureau during the peace talks with the United States in the emirate of Qatar, Baradar is one of the most prominent representatives of the Islamist group. He was Deputy Minister of Defense during the previous Taliban rule in Afghanistan. According to the United Nations, he then commanded Taliban fighters in attacks on the US armed forces and their allies in Afghanistan. He was in captivity in Pakistan from 2010 to 2018. He was a close friend of the former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar. This gave him the battle name “Baradar”, in German “Brother”.
According to a report by the Al Jazeera broadcaster, a representative from the Qatar Foreign Ministry arrived in Kabul. The aim of the visit is the rapid reopening of civil aviation at the airport. Faced with an impending economic collapse, the Taliban need international donors to give the leadership its legitimacy. The US and the EU have made formal recognition of the government dependent on the Islamists following up their announcements to protect human rights with action. With the formation of a government in Kabul, the pressure on the West to decide whether to recognize a Taliban government is growing.
The federal government is keeping a low profile
The federal government did not want to comment on the personal details. A spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office said in Berlin that the Taliban had not yet made a public statement. The federal government pointed out that state cooperation between the governments in Berlin and Kabul has officially been suspended.
The EU states want to take a coordinated approach to the search for contacts with the Taliban. “We decided to do it in a coordinated manner, including a joint presence in Kabul,” said EU Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Bdro, Slovenia. A prerequisite for a presence in the Afghan capital is that the security situation allows it. The EU also wants to work with partners in the region on the issues of refugees and organized crime.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on a visit to Pakistan that his country would not recognize the Taliban government but would have to deal with the new reality. You have to talk to the new rulers in Kabul. An economic and social collapse in Afghanistan must also be prevented. The Taliban had gone through a number of developments, “some of which are positive, at least in words,” said Raab. “We have to test them now and see if that leads to action.”
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