22 March 2015

By Al-Ikhwah Al-Mujahidun

The composition of the Kabul administration's cabinet has been a hotly debated issue ever since the announcement of nominees on behalf of Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. It has been revealed that more than half the proposed cabinet members have dual nationalities. One of the nominees is listed as an expert in a neighboring countries website inter alia pointing out that this person is a citizen of that neighboring country. Further revelations revealed that the nominated agriculture minister was wanted by Interpol. Interpol listed Mohammad Yaqub Haidari as wanted in Estonia for 'large-scale tax evasion, fraudulent conversion' in cases dating back to 2003. On top of these revelations recently allegations have emerged regarding the political ties of the proposed cabinet members. This information suggests that in the proposed cabinet the former communist party – Parcham - has the largest representation of all with 5 proposed ministers. These are followed by the by the Hizb Islami and Hizb Wahdat parties with 4 proposed members each. The communist Khalq party also has 2 proposed members, bringing the communist bloc total to 7 ministers.

This large representation of former communist members has created a newfound headache for the government allied Mujahideen factions. Some days ago, Sayyaf, who has no representation in the introduced Cabinet list, scolded the Ghani-Abdullah unity government for what he termed the 'exclusion of Mujahideen' from the proposed Cabinet. His statements were echoed by his former deputy in the Presidential election, Ismael Khan, who expressed concern that the partisan makeup of the proposed government risked deepening the crisis in Afghanistan. One of Kabul's newspaper, Hasht Subh, which is run by former communists, satirically answered Ismael Khan's concerns. In its last Sunday edition, it wrote about Ismael Khan, that this 'jackal' who came to power via the bombs of B-52 bomber planes now lectures us about sacrifices and rights. It expressed astonishment that this warlord who until yesterday prayed in Italian language for fear of being labelled a Talib and was feeding off the Italian-handed PRTs, now claims to be a rightist at war with the leftists.

Not only do the former communists form the largest numbers in the proposed cabinet, but they hold the most powerful and sensitive portfolios. In particular they have been offered the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Education. There are rumors that even within Abdullah Abdullah's own camp questions are being raised as to why he would introduce communists to these highly sensitive posts. Should Abdullah's choices for these ministries be approved however, we can be sure that darker days lie ahead for the Muslim people of Afghanistan. The so-called Mujahideen in Kabul will invariably feel unease when looking at the impressive array of ministries being offered to the communists. Even a cursorily look at these ministries will reveal that all the executive levers of power are firmly in the hands of communists, their erstwhile enemies. When the army, police, education, and other social services are under the control of communists then we should know that the Mujahid nation of Afghanistan has finally been defeated and once again pushed back to the era of 30 years ago. The appointment of these communists in such controlling ministries will drive the religious segments of society and the political theatre to the fringes, it will allow the communists to once again tighten their grip on power (such as during the days of President Daoud) and to drive a wedge amongst the various segments of society.

IEA: "Reports about peace talks between IEA and US in Qatar are baseless"

A press secretary of the Da Afghanistan Islami Amarat/Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) Zabihullah Mujahid made a statement entitled "Reports about peace talks with America in Qatar are baseless". The statement said:

- "Some media outlets irresponsibly reported that the Islamic Emirate will initiate peace talks with America in Qatar today and has sent envoys to Qatar.

We strongly reject this claim. There is no plan of any such talks with any party at our office in Qatar and these rumors have no bases.

There are no new changes in the policy of the Islamic Emirate regarding negotiations and neither has the Islamic Emirate yet taken a serious stance on this issue. Afghanistan is still under occupation, there are thousands of foreign troops currently present and operating inside Afghanistan, the Kabul administration has a security pact with America, is embroiled in corruption, is encouraging anti-Islamic activities and stresses on the continued presence of foreign invaders".