Afghan High Peace Council

The Afghanistan High Peace Council is a body of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, appointed by Hamid Karzai to negotiate with elements of the Taliban.[1][2][3]

The Council was initially chaired by former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani until his assassination in 2011. The membership of the peace council included some former members of the Taliban, including: Arsalan Rahmani Daulat, Habibullah Fawzi, Sayeedur Rahman Haqani and Faqir Mohammad.[1] Other members of the council include: Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf.[4]

In September 2011 Haji Deen Muhammed expressed outrage over the killing of Sabar Lal Melma.[5] Sabar had been apprehended and sent to Guantanamo in 2002, based on allegations he helped facilitate Osama bin Laden's escape from Afghanistan. He was repatriated in 2007. But American special forces kept taking him captive. According to Deen Muhammed the Peace Council had secured assurance that Americans would stop harassing Sabar. Nevertheless, Sabar was killed by US special forces, in his home, during a night raid, just two days after the Peace Council received assurances that harassment of him would stop.

In April 2012, Burhanuddin Rabbani's son Salahuddin Rabbani was appointed chairman of the Council.[6]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 David Ariosto (2011-07-16). "14 ex-Taliban members removed from U.N. sanctions". CNN. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  2. ↑ "High Peace and Reconcilliation Council". High Peace and Reconcilliation Council. 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  3. ↑ Abdul Qadir Siddique (2010-09-29). "Peace council members named". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  4. ↑ Deb Riechmann (2010-10-12). "Afghan peace council members want gesture from US". Boston Globe.
  5. ↑ Ray Riviera (2011-09-04). "Anger After a Raid Kills a Wealthy Afghan With a Murky Past". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-04. His death has angered members of the Afghanistan High Peace Council, who are responsible for reconciliation efforts with militants. Council members say that just days earlier they had won a promise from coalition forces to stop bothering Mr. Lal after they had detained him last month. NATO officials insist they had not detained him.
  6. ↑ Murdered Afghan talks head Rabbani replaced by son BBC News, 14 April 2012