The new Mullah in Command.

v In a dramatic move the Afghan Taliban replaced the head of their negotiation team and has appointed Sheikh Abdul Hakeem (a close aid of the supreme leader). Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada for the long awaited peace talks with the Afghan government. Sheikh Hakeem landed in Doha a few days ago and replaced an articulate Taliban leader Sher Muhammad Abbas Stankzai. Also the supreme leader has changed Sohail Shaheen (spokesman) of Afghan Taliban Qatar based political Head Quarter with Naeem Wardak.

·        It was only a week ago when Taliban had formally announced the team for Intra Afghan dialogue. Taliban sources have also told a newspaper correspondent that the supreme leader had personally chosen the members of the negotiation team and has given them a free hand to discuss the issues and can even declare ceasefire if they felt it necessary for the success of the peace talks.

§  Now let's discuss a brief profile of Sheikh Abdul Hakeem. He is a hardliner leader and had served as a shadow chief justice during the Taliban regime. He had also served as the head of “Ulema Shura”. He is stated to be very close to the supreme leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada. According to some sources, Sheikh Akhunzada respects Sheikh Hakeem alot and all the decisions made by Hakeem were always backed by Akhunzada. It is also reported that Sheikh Hakeem is one of the few Taliban leaders whom Akhunzada pays extra regards and even “kisses his hands” as a sign of respect.

Ø I think now we should also discuss the other members of the negotiating team as they all will be the critical thinkers and their skills and decisions will be crucial for bringing stability to the war torn country.

Name.	Ancestral home town              (province).	Portfolios during Taliban Reign.
Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanakzai	Logar.	Retired Afghan army colonel.   Deputy  Foreign  Minister
Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar	Logar.	Judge Of court of Cassation.
Mullah Shireen Akhund.	Kandahar.	Deputy to mullah umar
Mullah Lateef Mansur	Paktia.	Minister of Agriculture.
Mullah Sohail Shaheen.	Paktia.	Former private secretary to Mullah Omar
Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa	Kandahar.	Interior Minister and governor Of Herat.
Muhammad Anas Haqqani	Paktia.	Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, a fierce mujahhid

 

Maulvi Ameer khan muttaqi	Helmand	Minister of Information and culture.
Sheikh Muhaamad qasim	Kunduz	Minister of justice.
Mullah Abdul salam hanafi	Jowzan	Deputy Education Minister and Taliban commander in Jowzan
Maulvi Matiullhaq Khalis	Nangarhar	Taliban commander in Nangarhar
Mullah Muhammad Nabi Omari	Khost	Minister of Communication
Mullah Abdulhaq wasiq	Ghazni	Deputy Minister of Intelligence
Mullah Noorullah	Zabul	Governor of Balkh
Maulvi Farid Uddin	Paktika	Governor of paktika

 

Maulvi Abdul Kabir	Herat	Governor of Nangarhar  Province and Head of the Eastern Zone.
Maulvi Abdul Ghani Biradar	Badakhshan	Governor of Herat  and Nimruz provinces and/Commander for western Afghanistan.
Qari Din Muhamad	Badakhshan	Minister of Planning and  member of Taliban council  responsible for Takhar and Badakhshan
Mullah fazil Mazloom	Uruzgan	Incharge of the strategic Kunduz region

 

v One of the main and interesting thing about the negotiating team is that 65 percent members are chosen from the Taliban’s powerful decision making body “Rehbari Shura “. A senior Taliban leader has stated that they can join the intra Afghan dialogue any time but he also added that the supreme leader has reservations about the team announced by the Afghan government. The main question arises here is that why Akhunzada (supreme leader) changed the chief of peace talks committee?  The answer is very simple as sheikh Hakeem unlike the former head has a fierce personality and is a hard liner leader who has the capability to turn the things in his favor if anything goes against them, moreover his appointment can also be seen by another lens, that sheikh Hakeem is very close to Mullah Haibatullah Akhunzada and by doing this the supreme leader has represented himself in the negotiating team as Akhunzada is very strict in regard of facing camera and it is reported that Akhunzada has faced camera only 3 or 4 times in his entire life.

v In the end, we all should hope for the best and the neighboring countries should also play their role in making the peace talks successful so that peace should be established in Afghanistan which has seen nothing but fighting and destruction for the last 40 years