...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
demanded a new constitution for Afghanistan and promised an "inclusive Islamic system" to govern the war-torn country at a rare gathering with senior Afghan politicians in Russia on Tuesday that excluded the Kabul government.
The Death Eaters' manifesto, outlined in Moscow before some of Afghanistan's most influential leaders, comes a week after the Taliban held unprecedented six-day talks with US negotiators in Doha about ending the 17-year war.
Read: Kabul sees Taliban-Afghan opposition talks in Moscow as betrayal
The Doha and Moscow discussions, though entirely separate, both excluded the government in Kabul, where President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..is seen as increasingly sidelined from key negotiations for peace in his country.
The Moscow meeting ‐ the Taliban's most significant with Afghan politicians in recent memory ‐ saw the Death Eaters praying together with sworn enemies including former president Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
...One of the more egregious mistakes of the post 9-11 era...
as they discussed their vision for the future.
"The Kabul government constitution is invalid. It has been imported from the West and is an obstacle to peace," Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai
...Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Head of the Taliban political office in Doha. He was a member of Rassoul Sayyaf's group in the war against the Soviets....
, who headed the Taliban delegation, told attendees at a central Moscow hotel.
"It is conflicted. We want an Islamic constitution," he said, adding that the new charter would be drafted by Islamic scholars.
No representatives from the Kabul government were invited to Moscow but some of Ghani's chief rivals ‐ including Karzai as well as opponents in an election slated for July ‐ were in attendance.