Ex-President Of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani Killed

High_Gravity

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Nov 19, 2010
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Ex-President Of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani Killed

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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two Afghan government sources say former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani has been killed in the capital Kabul.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rabbani was killed Tuesday evening at his home in Kabul.

Rabbani was head of the country's high peace council, which was set up by the Afghan government to work toward a political solution. However, it had made little headway since it was formed a year ago.

Rabbani was president of the Afghan government that preceded the Taliban. After he was driven from Kabul in 1996, he became the nominal head of the Northern Alliance, mostly minority Tajiks and Uzbeks, who swept to power in Kabul after the Taliban's fall. Rabbani is an ethnic Tajik.

Ex-President Of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani Killed: Report
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, High Gravity.

We have so much pressure on us when we try to stop them from terrorizing New York on 9/11, we have to withdraw a lot of troops, then there are such problems arise. That was done to send a message to other near and middle eastern countries not to cooperate with us in any way.

I'm so sad we couldn't have done something to prevent the assassination.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, High Gravity.

We have so much pressure on us when we try to stop them from terrorizing New York on 9/11, we have to withdraw a lot of troops, then there are such problems arise. That was done to send a message to other near and middle eastern countries not to cooperate with us in any way.

I'm so sad we couldn't have done something to prevent the assassination.

We can't be everywhere all the time, the truth of the matter is we don't have enough boots on the ground to be able to police the entire country. Keep in mind Afghanistan is better than Iraq with much more hostile terrain and many more ethnic groups.

Demography of Afghanistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are Pashtuns which are the majority as well as Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmens and Balochis. You can go to one part in Afghanistan and encounter and totally different people and language, for a country this fractured and of this size you need many more troops than the 120,000 we currently have on the ground, realistically we need 500,000 at least. There are large swaths of lands in Afghanistan that we have no control over are they are in the hands of either the Taliban or terror groups allied with them like the Haqqani network, when you give the enemy room like this you will see operations pulled off that kill people like this poor ex president and the US Embassy attack over the weekend.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, High Gravity.

We have so much pressure on us when we try to stop them from terrorizing New York on 9/11, we have to withdraw a lot of troops, then there are such problems arise. That was done to send a message to other near and middle eastern countries not to cooperate with us in any way.

I'm so sad we couldn't have done something to prevent the assassination.

We can't be everywhere all the time, the truth of the matter is we don't have enough boots on the ground to be able to police the entire country. Keep in mind Afghanistan is better than Iraq with much more hostile terrain and many more ethnic groups.

Demography of Afghanistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are Pashtuns which are the majority as well as Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmens and Balochis. You can go to one part in Afghanistan and encounter and totally different people and language, for a country this fractured and of this size you need many more troops than the 120,000 we currently have on the ground, realistically we need 500,000 at least. There are large swaths of lands in Afghanistan that we have no control over are they are in the hands of either the Taliban or terror groups allied with them like the Haqqani network, when you give the enemy room like this you will see operations pulled off that kill people like this poor ex president and the US Embassy attack over the weekend.
Their strength seems to be in frightening the living hell out of people over there. Seems the thing to do would be to make it so frightening for offenders to do such a thing, the snakes would crawl back in their holes and not come out again.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, High Gravity.

We have so much pressure on us when we try to stop them from terrorizing New York on 9/11, we have to withdraw a lot of troops, then there are such problems arise. That was done to send a message to other near and middle eastern countries not to cooperate with us in any way.

I'm so sad we couldn't have done something to prevent the assassination.

We can't be everywhere all the time, the truth of the matter is we don't have enough boots on the ground to be able to police the entire country. Keep in mind Afghanistan is better than Iraq with much more hostile terrain and many more ethnic groups.

Demography of Afghanistan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are Pashtuns which are the majority as well as Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmens and Balochis. You can go to one part in Afghanistan and encounter and totally different people and language, for a country this fractured and of this size you need many more troops than the 120,000 we currently have on the ground, realistically we need 500,000 at least. There are large swaths of lands in Afghanistan that we have no control over are they are in the hands of either the Taliban or terror groups allied with them like the Haqqani network, when you give the enemy room like this you will see operations pulled off that kill people like this poor ex president and the US Embassy attack over the weekend.
Their strength seems to be in frightening the living hell out of people over there. Seems the thing to do would be to make it so frightening for offenders to do such a thing, the snakes would crawl back in their holes and not come out again.

Yeah but if we actually do that we will be accused of "war crimes', we been having a soft hand during this entire war.
 
Being a member of the government in Afghanistan would be the same as painting a big target on your back.
I wonder how long Karzai will last after the foreign troops leave.
 
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Rabbani Assassination: Death Of Former Afghan President Mourned

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KABUL, Afghanistan — The suicide bomber who killed the head of an Afghan peace council struggling to start meaningful negotiations with the Taliban delivered a potentially fatal blow to the efforts to find a political settlement in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials on Wednesday mourned the death of former President Berhanuddin Rabbani, who headed the High Peace Council. His assassin had claimed he was a Taliban leader seeking to reconcile with the government and had waited for days in Kabul on the pretext of wanting to talk to Rabbani about peace.

The assassination sapped hope for reconciling with the Taliban and raised fears about deteriorating security in Afghanistan just as foreign combat troops are starting to pull out. Some U.S. and Canadian troops have left in recent months and all foreign combat forces are to go home or move into support roles by the end of 2014 when Afghan forces are to be in charge of protecting and defending the nation.

Mohammad Ismail Qasemyar, the international relations adviser for the peace council, said the bomber, identified as Esmatullah, had approached several council officials, telling them that he was an important figure in the Taliban insurgency and would only speak directly with Rabbani.

"He wanted to talk about peace with Professor Rabbani," Qasemyar said.

The appeal was passed up to President Hamid Karzai, who called Rabbani and encouraged him to meet with Esmatullah, said Ahmad Wali Masood, the brother of Ahmed Shah Masood, the resistance leader who was killed by al-Qaida in 2001. It's unclear if Esmatullah was the attacker's real name.

The bomber stayed for days at a house used for guests of the peace council while waiting for Rabbani to return from a trip to Iran, Qasemyar said.

On Tuesday, the two met and the attacker went to shake hands with Rabbani at his home, bowing his head near the former president's chest and detonating a bomb hidden in his turban, Qasemyar said.

The U.S.-led coalition said another attacker was also involved, but that could not be confirmed by Afghan officials. The Interior Ministry said one person had been detained in connection with Rabbani's death – the driver of the car that took the bomber to Rabbani's house.

Rabbani was seen as a unifying force who brought together different ethnic factions, many of whom disagreed about whether the government should even be seeking negotiations with the insurgency.

Rabbani had been a leader of the Northern Alliance resistance movement, and his involvement in the peace council silenced many in that group that didn't want to sit around a table with Taliban militants.

It was unclear who – if anyone – among Afghan powerbrokers might be able to fill that role now.

Waheed Muzhda, a Kabul-based analyst and former foreign ministry official under the Taliban regime that was toppled in late 2001, said it was hard to foresee a future for the year-old peace council.

"It is clear for Afghan people, and even for the international community, that the Taliban do not agree with what the Afghan government is suggesting," Muzhda said. "Nobody thinks that any positive development regarding the peace process through the High Peace Council is possible."

Sarajuddin Sirat, who is active in the council and headed Rabbani's political party in northern Baghlan province, said the former president's death will make it very difficult for peace negotiators to move safely around the country to talk with Taliban figures.

"How can we feel safe?" he asked. "Look what happened to Rabbani."

The street where Rabbani lived was under tight security Wednesday and those gathered outside feared another suicide attack because so many dignitaries were there paying their respects.

A black cloth, a symbol of mourning, was draped over a wall. Throughout the day, top clerics, tribal leaders, government officials, former jihadi commanders and members of Rabbani's party streamed in and out of the house as a loudspeaker broadcast readings of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

The dignitaries included Vice President Gen. Mohammed Qasim Fahim; Abdullah Abdullah, a top opposition leader who ran against Karzai in the last election; Ismail Khan, a former warlord and current minister of water and power; and Atta Mohammed Noor, a powerful governor of Balkh province in the north. Local citizens denounced the Taliban, saying it was shameful for insurgents to kill an old man working for peace.

Rabbani Assassination: Death Of Former Afghan President Mourned
 
Burhanuddin Rabbani Killer Presented President Fake Taliban Peace Offer

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KABUL, Afghanistan — The suicide bomber who killed Afghanistan's former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, gained access to him by presenting officials beforehand with an audio recording of a purported peace message from the Taliban, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday.

At a news conference, Karzai said the recording was a ruse to allow the assassin an appointment with Rabbani, who led the country's High Peace Council tasked with seeking reconciliation with Taliban insurgents. Karzai's remarks offered new details about Rabbani's death, which dealt a devastating blow to efforts of negotiating a peace settlement with the Taliban to end the decade-long war.

The assassin, who hid a bomb in his turban, killed the 70-year-old former Afghan leader Tuesday at his home in Kabul.

Karzai said that before he left for New York last weekend, one of his advisers, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, told him that the Taliban had a message for the Afghan peace council. Stanekzai is a top peace council official who was wounded in the attack that killed Rabbani.

The president listened to the audio.

"There were a couple of questions and suggestions mentioned regarding peace," Karzai said about the contents of the audio.

Karzai said he then talked with Rabbani, who rushed back home from a trip to Iran to listen to the recording.

"It was not a peace message. It was a trick," said Karzai, speaking at a podium set up in a courtyard of the presidential palace. "The messenger was the killer."

Shafiqullah Tahiri, a spokesman for the Afghan intelligence service, said officials believe Rabbani's killing had been planned for four months and that the Afghan Taliban's governing council known as the Quetta Shura, named after a city in Pakistan, was behind the assassination. But he said the investigation is still ongoing.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. When contacted by The Associated Press, Taliban spokesmen declined to discuss any details about the killing.

Rahamtullah Wahedyar, a member of the peace council, said the council had contact for four months with an alleged Taliban representative – a man he identified only as Hamidullah. The alleged Taliban contact, who claimed to represent the Quetta Shura, had traveled to Kabul for talks with Rabbani and Stanekzai.

According to Wahedyar, Hamidullah claimed he was unable to make the planned trip to Kabul and would send someone in his place to deliver a very important message to Rabbani.

Wahedyar said he later received a call from the alleged Taliban envoy, identified as Esmatullah, who arrived at a bus station in Kabul and was taken to the peace council's guesthouse. Esmatullah said he was a stranger to Kabul and was concerned about getting lost.

According to Wahedyar, presidential adviser Stanekzai was "happy" about the visit and urged him to make sure Esmatullah was comfortable and had good food. The two men held a meeting with the assassin, who handed over a computerized audio recording allegedly made by Taliban leaders that called for the removal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to "moral corruption" in the country.

Burhanuddin Rabbani Killer Presented President Fake Taliban Peace Offer
 
I must admit I have difficulty understanding the Taliban strategy.

The Afghan government and the Western powers are wanting to negotiate the end of the conflict with them and they carry on with theses tactics?
Why wouldn't they just settle down, say all the right things and wait until everyone leaves the country before they re-start their campaign for domination of the country or whatever it is they're after?
 
I must admit I have difficulty understanding the Taliban strategy.

The Afghan government and the Western powers are wanting to negotiate the end of the conflict with them and they carry on with theses tactics?
Why wouldn't they just settle down, say all the right things and wait until everyone leaves the country before they re-start their campaign for domination of the country or whatever it is they're after?

Why don't you open a Quran and see why Islamonazis do what they do, dink?
 
I must admit I have difficulty understanding the Taliban strategy.

The Afghan government and the Western powers are wanting to negotiate the end of the conflict with them and they carry on with theses tactics?
Why wouldn't they just settle down, say all the right things and wait until everyone leaves the country before they re-start their campaign for domination of the country or whatever it is they're after?

Why don't you open a Quran and see why Islamonazis do what they do, dink?

Please enlighten me, I don't have a Quran to hand at the moment.
 
I must admit I have difficulty understanding the Taliban strategy.

The Afghan government and the Western powers are wanting to negotiate the end of the conflict with them and they carry on with theses tactics?
Why wouldn't they just settle down, say all the right things and wait until everyone leaves the country before they re-start their campaign for domination of the country or whatever it is they're after?

The Taliban is not as united a front as we like to think, this is not an Army serving under arms all following the same orders like our Military. There are moderate elements of the Taliban willing to talk, the extremist elements that don't want to talk and just want us to leave, and than you have terror groups like the Haqqani net work and Al Qaeda elements that work separate from the Taliban with their own agenda, we are not just dealing with 1 group here it is several.
 
Slain Afghan Ex-Leader Rabbani Buried

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(KABUL, Afghanistan) — A surging crowd of mourners on Friday kissed the coffin of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, slain by a suicide bomber claiming to carry a peace message from the Taliban, and railed against neighboring Pakistan for allegedly fomenting conflict in their country.

The outpouring of anger at a hilltop cemetery exposed the divisions and suspicion that plague Afghanistan after years of war, and followed a stately funeral ceremony at the palace of President Hamid Karzai, who hailed Rabbani as a tireless advocate for reconciliation.

"It is our responsibility to act against those who are enemies of peace," said Karzai, urging Afghans to shun despair over the death of Rabbani in an attack at his home on Tuesday, and instead escalate efforts to bring an end to the fighting that the U.S.-led coalition seeks to exit by the end of 2014.

One by one, lawmakers and foreign envoys stepped up to pay tribute before Rabbani's casket, draped in a red, black and green national flag. A military band played the national anthem. Then the coffin was carried by uniformed servicemen with caps and white gloves, marching stiffly.

A procession of vehicles, some bearing large portraits of Rabbani, showing him dignified in robes and with a long white beard, drove up a hill overlooking Kabul, the capital. There, the observances turned unruly. Gunfire erupted briefly, possibly because guards were jittery about the possibility of an attack.

Supporters of the former president's political faction, chanting and distraught, reached to touch the coffin.

"Death to the foreign puppets," they shouted. "Pakistan is our enemy."

The suicide attacker who killed Rabbani had a a bomb in his turban, and gained entry to the former president's home by convincing officials, including Karzai's advisers, that he represented the Taliban leadership, based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, and wanted to discuss reconciliation.

In Washington on Thursday, U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency of backing extremists in planning and executing an assault on the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan last week and a truck bomb attack that wounded 77 American soldiers days earlier.

Mullen insisted that the Haqqani insurgent network "acts as a veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency, or ISI, undermining the uneasy U.S.-Pakistan relationship forged in the terror fight and endangering American troops in the nearly 10-year-old war in Afghanistan.

"Death to the ISI," shouted mourners at Rabbani's funeral.

Pakistan rejected the American claims that it is supporting extremist attacks on American troops. Some analysts believe Pakistan seeks to bolster its influence in Afghanistan as a way to counter the regional influence of India, its longtime rival.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar warned the U.S. that it risked losing Pakistan as an ally and could not afford to alienate the Pakistani government or its people.

"If they are choosing to do so, it will be at their own cost," Khar told Geo TV on Thursday from New York City, where she was attending a U.N. General Assembly meeting. "Anything which is said about an ally, about a partner publicly to recriminate it, to humiliate it is not acceptable."


Read more: Distraught Followers Bury Slain Afghan Ex-Leader Rabbani - TIME
 

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