[ABC.NET.AU] The head of the Taliban's Qatar...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
-based political office has stepped down in a move highlighting growing discord over the group's recent power transition.
Mullah Akhtar Mansour was announced as the new Taliban chief on Friday after the turbans confirmed the death of Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title
Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
, who led the bad boy movement for some 20 years.
But splits immediately emerged between Mansour and rivals challenging his appointment, exposing the Taliban's biggest leadership crisis in recent years and one that raises the risk of a factional split.
Underscoring the deepening internal divisions, Tayeb Agha stepped down on Monday as head of the Taliban's political office, set up in Qatar in 2013 to facilitate peace talks.
"In order to live with a clear conscience and abide by the principles of Mullah Omar, I decided that my work as head of the political office has ended," Mr Agha said in the statement published on a website regularly used by the Doha office and confirmed by a Taliban source.
"I will not be involved in any kind of [Taliban] statements... and will not support any side in the current internal disputes within the Taliban."
Mr Agha added that consensus should have been sought from holy warrior strongholds inside Afghanistan over the new leader's appointment.
The Taliban source said Mansour's aides were trying to convince Mr Agha to withdraw his resignation but his statement adds to a growing chorus of dissent in the movement over the increasingly bitter political transition.
"The death of Mullah Omar was kept secret for two years," Mr Agha said.
"I consider this a historical mistake."
The Taliban have not given details of when and where Omar died but the Afghan government said it happened in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
in April 2013.
The Taliban continued to release official statements in the name of Omar, who had not been seen in public since the Taliban were toppled from power in 2001, as recently as last month.
Many turbans oppose what they see as Pakistain's attempt to force the Taliban into direct peace talks with the Afghan government.
Mansour and his two newly named deputies -- influential religious leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani -- are all seen as close to the Pak military establishment, which has historically nurtured and supported the Taliban.