Hasan may head proposed Taliban govt, Baradar to be deputy: Report
Mohammad Hasan Akhund, chief of the Taliban’s decision-making body called “rehbari shura” or the leadership council, has been named as Afghanistan’s new head of state by the insurgent group’s supreme leader Hebatullah Akhundzada, according to a Pakistani media report.
Abdul Ghani Baradar, chairman of Taliban’s political office in Doha, and Abdus Salam will work as deputies of Hasan in the new government, which is likely to be announced next week, The News International reported, citing multiple sources.
Akhundzada proposed Hassan’s
name to head the new Afghan government, the newspaper claimed, adding that the simmering issues within the ranks of the Taliban regarding the formation of the government have now been resolved.
According to the report, Hasan hails from Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban, and was among the founders of the armed movement. He worked for 20 years as head of the leadership council and has been close to the supreme leader.
He had served as foreign minister and deputy prime minister during the Taliban’s previous government in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
Mulla Yaqoob, son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad
Omar, will be the new defence minister, the report said.
Yaqoob was a student of Akhundzada, and the latter had earlier appointed him as head of the powerful military commission of the Taliban group.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the Haqqani Network and son of the well-known anti-soviet warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, is likely to get the portfolio of interior minister, while Ameer Khan Muttaqi could be the new foreign minister, sources told the paper.
Sirajuddin is a specially designated global terrorist. According to the FBI’S website, the US state department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading directly to the arrest of Sirajuddin, who is thought to stay in Pakistan, possibly in the Miram Shah area in northern Waziristan, and has close ties with the Taliban and Al-qaeda.
He is wanted for questioning in connection with the 2008 attack on a hotel in Kabul that killed six people. Sirajuddin is believed to have coordinated and participated in cross-border attacks against the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
He was also allegedly involved in the planning of an assassination attempt on then Afghan president Hamid Karzai in 2008, the FBI website says.
The report says Zabiullah Mujahid will likely become the spokesperson for the new head of state.