| A former Taleban minister has registered to run in Afghanistan's Sept. 18 parliamentary election, an election commission official said yesterday. Former Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil was detained by US forces after the ouster of the Taleban government in 2001 and released two years later. He has been living in Afghanistan since then. Muttawakil registered to be a candidate in the parliamentary election in the southern city of Kandahar on Tuesday. Asked by reporters if he expected Taleban supporters to vote for him, Muttawakil said people were free to vote for who they wanted. Muttawakil, who was always seen by political analysts as a Taleban moderate, is one of several former group officials who have been involved in reconciliation talks with the US-backed government this year. Nearly 2,000 people have registered to run in the election for the 249-seat lower house of Parliament, known as the Wolesi Jirga. Candidate registration in most of the country ends next week, the election commission official said. |