Hazrat Ali

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For the first Imam of Shi'a Muslims, see Ali

Hazrat Ali

Residence	Torkham
Nationality	Afghanistan
Occupation	Militia leader
Known for	Allowing Osama bin Laden to escape to Pakistan

Haji Hazrat Ali is a military commander in eastern Afghanistan.^[1] He was born in 1964 and is an ethnic Pashai.

1 Guantanamo detainees who served under Ali
2 Hazrat Ali and the Afghan drug trade
3 References

Hazrat Ali rose to prominence during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. As a commander for Hezb-e Islami Khalis he quickly became an important leader for the Pashai community.

Hazrat Ali has also been described as an Afghan Army commander under the Soviet puppet regime.^[2]

During the war against the Taliban, Ali is said to have been aligned with Ahmad Shah Massoud.

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

The Asia Times also reports that Ali was one of the warlords who allowed Bin Laden to escape from Tora Bora.^[5]

"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."

Hamid Karzai appointed Hazrat Ali as the Jalalabad police chief.

Ali ran for election in the fall of 2005 for election to the Wolesi Jirga. the Afghan Parliament, for a seat from Nangarhar.^[3]^[2] Ali won a seat for Nangrahar province.

[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 Guantanamo 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.

[edit] Hazrat Ali and the Afghan drug trade

On September 4, 2003 the Christian Science Monitor quoted several Afghan Opium farmers:^[8]

"Hazrat Ali's men gave us money in advance for opium. It is all because of him [Hazrat Ali] that we are living a peaceful and prosperous life."

"Once, Hazrat Ali's men came to the villagers and told us 'the Americans are really furious [about] the increasing poppy crop, so destroy some of it on the roadside to make Americans feel happy.'"

"We are not your enemy. We want to see you prosperous so continue your business [of poppy cultivation]."