(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - The Taliban was fighting a "defensive war" in Afghanistan and had no desire to conduct violent attacks in other countries, a key Taliban leader said on Wednesday. "We just want to be left alone to oppress our people in peace."
Mullah Abdul Jalil, former Afghan foreign minister under the Taliban and pioneer of the movement in the 1990s, also told Adnkronos International (AKI) that it had nothing to do with Pakistan's Tehrik-i-Taliban or its violent attacks. "The Taliban are fighting a defensive war in Afghanistan and we don't have any aggressive agenda against any nation," Mullah Jalil told AKI. "We have nothing to do with Al-Qaeda or any other group's agenda.
"The occasional Arab, central Asian, Chechen, Mongol, Guantamalan, Urdmurt or Hottentot corpse you see isn't with us. Somebody left it here."
"We abide by our own code of conduct known as Asasi Qanoon (Basic Law) which clearly says that we would not disrupt the normal life in any country of the world. Even tomorrow, if NATO forces withdrew as a result of our resistance, we would keep a peaceful co-existence with all nations of the world," Mullah Jalil elaborated.
Mullah Jalil has always been part of the inner circle of Mullah Omar, the reclusive leader of the Taliban of Afghanistan and the country's de facto head of state from 1996 to 2001. He was deputy foreign minister during the Taliban regime removed in December 2001 and once served as foreign minister. Like many other Taliban, he has reservations about Al-Qaeda. But he preferred not to comment on the issue as Mullah Omar supported Pushtunwali, a tribal code of honor, which defends anyone who seeks protection.
Abdul Jalil said that the Afghan Taliban had nothing to with Pakistan's Tehrik-i-Taliban, the main Taliban militant umbrella group in Pakistan and never approved of violence in Pakistan. "We never approved suicide attacks in Pakistan or Gulf countries," he said. "This strategy is only for Afghanistan because of western occupation forces. People were often confused between the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Taliban (led by Baitullah Mehsud) and the Taliban. We have nothing to do with them.
"Honest we don't."
"In fact, we individually spoke to every group engaged in violence in Pakistan to stop them fighting against the Pakistani security troops and we don't allow them to come into our areas," Mullah Jalil said.
Mullah Abdul Jalil said that whatever the Taliban did during its rule in Afghanistan was merely upholding Islamic law.
On Tuesday, US President George W. Bush, announced 8,000 troops would be withdrawn from Iraq while an extra 4,500 would be sent to Afghanistan within the next few months to counter an increasing number of attacks by the Taliban. Bush said Afghan soldiers were "courageous" but needed help and that it was important to rebuild education and infrastructure in the country.