Most senior Taliban defector blames hardliners for war

The most senior Taliban member to defect so far has blamed Osama bin Laden and Taliban hardliners for transforming Afghanistan into a terrorist haven and bringing on a disastrous war with the United States.

Mullah Mohammed Khaqzar, the former Taliban deputy interior minister, told a news conference at the weekend that he had warned the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, that he should tell "the terrorists" to leave, or they would destroy the country.

He said Mullah Omar had fallen under the influence of Mr bin Laden, who had forged close ties with the Taliban defence minister, Obeidullah Khan, and the justice minister, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi.

Mullah Turabi was the author of many of the most extreme Taliban decrees, such as those depriving women of the right to education and work and banning entertainment such as music, television and cinema.

Mullah Khaqzar, a former Taliban intelligence chief, said he had met Mr bin Laden only once and did not know how many members of his al-Qa'ida terrorist network were in Afghanistan. But he said he suspected that Mr bin Laden and Mullah Omar were still in communication, despite recent Taliban claims that they did not know the Saudi exile's whereabouts.

Mullah Khaqzar is from the Taliban's spiritual home of Kandahar and was once a friend of Mullah Omar and part of the movement's inner circle. He said he had abandoned the movement because he wanted peace in Afghanistan.

He said: "I have fought for 23 years. I know that we have to have peace. I want to work with all the parties and groups to bring peace.

"I have been saying for a long time that the foreigners have to leave our country, that they have plans of their own and are destroying our country."

Mullah Khaqzar said he had remained in Kabul when the city fell to the Northern Alliance on 13 November. He said that during the Taliban's rule he had maintained contact with Northern Alliance leaders including Ahmed Shah Masood, the former military chief killed by a suicide bomber on 9 September. He said his hopes of forging peace in the country were undermined by hardliners.

Mr Khaqzar protested in March when the Taliban blew up two giant Buddha statues that were chiselled into a cliff in central Afghanistan more than 1,500 years ago. The militia considered the statues idolatrous and against the tenets of Islam. At the time, said that "it would have been better if they would have cut the throat of my son". But he refused to be quoted by name for fear the comment would cost him his life.

Mullah Khaqzar said: "I am telling all Afghans that peace is the only way.We cannot have any more war."

"We have to work together as one nation, with all the groups, for peace. It is the only way," he added. (AP)