While the United States is terming the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Afghan Taliban No 2, as a big success that could provide 'a wealth of information,' it sounds strange to many that the arrested militant commander was sacked from his post by the Taliban central shura well before from his arrest.
He was penalised for 'his independent contacts with the US for reconciliation,' senior Taliban sources told rediff.com
Mullah Baradar, the Afghan Taliban's top military commander and second only to its chief Mullah Omar, was arrested some 10 days ago, during a joint operation by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the American Central Intelligence Agency.
The sources revealed, "Mullah Baradar, without the consent of the Taliban shura, had started negotiations with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai some days prior to the Afghan general elections last year. He was in favour of talks while the majority of the Afghan Taliban shura members and some 'Pakistani friends' were against it."
Baradar was said to be running the Afghan Taliban's day-to-day affairs from outside Afghanistan, and was an important member of the Taliban central shura.
However, according to insiders at the time of his arrest, he was "useless" and had already been replaced by another commander.
The sources added, "Initially, he was sacked from his role as operational head of all Taliban and his membership in the Taliban shura was cancelled. Another militant commander, Maulana Nazir, who has a Kandahari background, replaced him. Just prior to his arrest Baradar was living like an ordinary person, so his arrest may not be termed as big an achievement for the Americans."
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