The Talibanon Tuesday announced Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhunzada, Chief of its powerful decision-makingbody ‘Rehbari Shura’ as the head of the Islamic State of Afganistan whileMullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will serve as his deputy.
AbdulGhani Baradar to be first deputy leader, Mawlavi Hannafi to be second deputyleader, Mullah Yaquoub to be the acting minister of defence, & SerajuddinHaqqani to be the acting minister of interior in the new Taliban Govt inAfghanistan as per reports.
Thisis what happened after the visit of the Director General of ISI Lt Gen FaizHameed to Kabul on Saturday. The much-expected name of Mullah Baradar as thehead of the new Taliban government was suddenly replaced by a lesser-known faceMullah Hasan Akhund overnight.
Infact, most of the probable names of the Taliban's Doha political office wereeither removed or "demoted" in the new list of the Talibangovernment. The political face and head of the negotiating team, Mullah Baradarmay serve as a deputy of Hasan Akhund the new head of the Taliban proposedgovernment.
"TheTaliban chief Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada had himself proposed Mullah MohammadHasan Akhund as Raees-e-Jamhoor, or Raees-ul-Wazara or the new head of state ofAfghanistan. Mullah Baradar Akhund and Mullah Abdus Salam will work as hisdeputies," Pakistani daily The News reports quoting Taliban leaders.
Accordingto the report, the Taliban is expected to announce the new government but thismight get delayed for a few more days.
Thenew power sharing deal was apparently brokered by the ISI chief Faiz Hameedfollowing the internal differences among the various factions in the group.
Accordingto Pakistani analysts, in an ISI brokered deal, Hasan was the "right"choice as he has no power base of his own, so he is no threat to the leaders ofthe two major factions.
Accordingto reports, Mullah Yakub will be the defence minister. The pro-ISI Haqqaninetwork appears to be a big gainer. Sirajuddin Haqqani, the face of the Haqqaninetwork is proposed as federal interior minister. He has also been authorisedto nominate governors for the eastern provinces, from where the Haqqani Networkused to draw its force. They are Paktia, Khost, Gardez, Nangarhar and Kunar.Mullah Ameer Khan Muttaqi has been nominated as the new foreign minister, theTaliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid who was earlier reported to be the newinformation minister, will be the spokesman for the head of the state, MullahHasan Akhund.
Who isMullah Hasan Akhund?
"MullahAkhund worked for 20 years as head of Rahbari Shura and earned himself a verygood reputation. He is a religious leader rather than a military background andis known for his character and devotion," says the Taliban chiefHibatullah Akhundzada.
Atpresent he is the head of Taliban's Rahbari Shura, better known as Quetta Shuraor leadership council , based in Quetta in Pakistan. Though he heads it, allpower lies with the Taliban chief. He belongs to Kandahar, the birthplace ofthe Taliban, and was among the many founders of the group. Studied in variousmadrasas in Pakistan, he was never considered as a leader in the group.
Infact, Hasan Akhund is considered one of the most ineffective and unreasonableTaliban leaders. He was never given any important posts in the last regime ofTaliban other than stop gap arrangements for a brief period. He was the one whosupervised the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in March 2001, and is stilllisted as a terrorist by the United Nations.
Asreported earlier, there were many differences in the group. The first wasbetween the leaders of the Doha political team headed by Mullah Baradar and theTaliban's military chief Mullah Yakub, son of the founder of Taliban, MullahOmar over Baradar's heading the proposed government, who thinks that he was anatural "heir" of his father's legacy.
Accordingto a report, Yakub said that those living in luxury in Doha cannot dictateterms to those involved in jihad against the US and the then Afghan government.The comment was an obvious reference to Mullah Baradar, Sher Mohammed Stanekzaiand others who handled the political office of Taliban in Doha.
SirajuddinHaqqani, the heir of Haqqani network and the most powerful militant commanderin Afghanistan, is also the member of the Taliban's Doha political office. Now,his brother Anas Haqqani and uncle Khalil-ur-Haqqani control the territoriesincluding Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, in addition to keyborder crossings into north-western Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
It wasreported on Friday that Mullah Baradar was injured during a fist fight withAnas Haqqani. Haqqanis and a few members of Taliban were dead against Baradar'sappointment as the head and that was apparently one of the main reasons for thesudden visit of the ISI chief to Kabul.