Taliban Qatar office chief Tayyab Agha stands down

KABUL Mohammad Tayyab Agha on Tuesday slammed keeping Mullah Muhammad Omar’s death secret as a historic blunder.

Agha expressed these views in an interview with Al-Jazeera and a public statement, in which he called Mullah Mansoor’s nomination as yet another wrong decision by the movement. The statement quoted Agha as saying that leaders nominated outside Afghanistan were unlikely to be efficient.

“Keeping Mullah Omar’s death secret is a blunder. Peace process through Pakistan is not more than a game,” he remarked, saying he had resigned as head of the Taliban’s political office and would not share any news from there.

He wound not intervene in any official matter from now onward. He asked Taliban leaders to appoint his replacement and make all other important decisions within Afghanistan.

Agha added: “In the current controversial situation, I am not supporting any side.” He denied receiving any audio message from Omar since the beginning of the year, saying he had been getting written instructions without a signature.

Differences among Taliban escalated soon after the announcement of Omar’s demise last week. The government said Omar had died in a hospital in Karachi while Taliban rejected the claim.

The group said Mullah Mansoor’s appointment had been made with the consent of all leaders but Mullah Abdul Manan -- Omar’s brother -- opposed the decision in an audio interview.

Media reports said that prominent Taliban leaders had not participated in the gathering where Mullah Mansoor was named while few other leading figures left the meeting in protest.

The Taliban Supreme Council had also opposed Mullah Manoor’s nomination, saying it would announce new leaders after Mullah Omar’s memorial ceremonies were over. 

Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, rejected the news of differences within the group and tweeted on Tuesday western media spread propaganda.

shah/rm/mud