Monitoring Desk: Former Director General of Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) chief former Gen Asad Durrani believes that ISI and Afghan Taliban kept death of Taliban chief Mullah Omar under wrap for two years because he (Mullah Omar) was a unifying figure and bringing peace in Afghanistan could be easier if his death could not have been public by Kabul regime.
In an interview with Sophie Shevarnadze of Russia Today (RT), Gen Durrani indicates that “Pakistan pushed (for peace talks) them (Afghan Taliban) very often, but whenever we (Pakistan) pushed them, who sabotages it? Murrey-two was sabotaged by the Kabul regime, not by us (Pakistan)”.
“We were – the ISI and the Taliban – we keeping the news of Mullah Omar’s death under wrap for two years because he was a unifying figure: “Once the peace process starts, then we will see”. Once after Rasoul, after that scuttling of Murrey-two process that was end of July 2015, he re-established authority, he was the one who was the peacemaker, used to send the Taliban delegates to Doha rounds, to Murrey, because Mullah Omar was dead.. When he (Mullah Mansur) re-established the authority, he was eliminated by the American drone. So the peacefoilers are not the Taliban, Pakistan in any case no, because our stakes are very high – it’s either the Kabul regime that is afraid of losing its clout, because it does not have the ground support, or it is the U.S. that does not want that negotiation and settlement. It wants, if nothing else, if not the turmoil, its client regime to survive”.
He believes that peace talks are not in favour of United States and Kabul regime.
