User:Geo Swan/Hazrat Ali

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Hazrat Ali is an Afghan military commander and politician.^[1]

Following the fall of the Taliban Ali joined with two other leaders in the Jalalabad-Tora Bora region, Abdul Qadir and Mohammed Zaman to set up the Eastern Shura, a local provisional government. ^[1] They were early backers of the first post-Taliban President Hamid Karzai.

The Pak Tribune described Ali as a "gangster" during the Fall 2004 Afghan Presidential election.^[2]

The Asia Times reports that, after the fall of the Taliban, Ali's troops executed hundreds of captured Arab prisoners with the complicity of U.S. special forces.^[3]

The Asia Times also reports that Ali was one of the warlords who allowed Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora.^[4]

"By the time the merciless American B-52 bombing raids were about to begin, bin Laden had already left Tora Bora - as a number of Afghan mujahideen confirmed to Asia Times Online at the time. They said they had seen him on the other side of the frontline in late November. Hazrat Ali, the warlord and then so-called minister of "law and order" in the Eastern Shura (traditional decision-making council) in Afghanistan, was outsourced by the Pentagon to go after bin Laden and al-Qaeda in Tora Bora. He bagged a handful of suitcases full of cash. He put on a show for the cameras. And significantly, he was barely in touch with the few Special Forces on the ground."

Ali ran for election in the fall of 2005 for election to the Wolesi Jirga for a seat from Nangarhar.^[2]^[5]

Ali has been described as an Afghan Army commander under the Soviet puppet regime.^[5] And he has been described as an anti-Soviet fighter.

[edit] Guantanamo detainees who served under Ali

Guantanamo detainee Anwar Khan told his Administrative Review Board that he had fought against the Taliban, under the over-all command of Hazrat Ali.^[6] He claimed he had been arrested, and sent to Gauntanamo when he was stopped at an American checkpoint and the soldiers were confused as to why he was carrying multiple ID cards.

Guantanamo detainee Awal Gul had been worked, reluctantly, for the Taliban, in administrative positions.^[7] He told his Tribunal of making multiple attempts to resign from the positions the Taliban had appointed him to. When the Taliban started to fall he took his chance and enlisted in Hazrat Ali's forces. However, a few months later, Ali forced him to surrender him to American forces.