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Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the main Taliban leaders, arrived in Kabul on Saturday as senior officials began discussions on how they will govern Afghanistan.
Baradar, one of the best-known faces of the Taliban who made his first return to Afghanistan in more than a decade this week, will lead their efforts to build a model of government for the country over the coming weeks.
Baradar negotiated the exit of US troops with former US President Donald Trump during peace talks in Dohar, Qatar, and is expected to take a leadership position in the Taliban administration. All eyes are on him for a sense of how the Taliban intend to rule Afghanistan this time around and how they will look like the oppressive regime of the past.
When the Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to 2001, it was under a veil of secrecy, with their leadership and internal workings kept out of public debate and the country ruled by draconian Islamic laws, in especially concerning women, and archaic punishments such as executions.
During talks in the capital on Saturday, Baradar met with militant commanders, deposed government figures and religious scholars.
Since Kabul fell under their control on Sunday, the Taliban have made efforts to present themselves as civilized and moderate leaders and have pledged to build an “inclusive Islamic government” for Afghanistan.
However, the first week of their rule was marred by reports of torture and killings of members of a minority group, with Taliban fighters going door-to-door looking for those who collaborated with the states. -United, the forces of NATO and Western organizations, and the murder of the relative of an Afghan journalist who had worked for the German channel Deutsche Welle. Many Afghans have also been killed in scenes of violence and chaos at Kabul airport.
In recent days, some of the most notorious members of the Taliban have returned to Kabul, including Khalil Haqqani, one of America’s most wanted terrorists with a bounty of $ 5million (£ 3.7million) on his head.
According to a Taliban official, discussions on governance will continue over the next few weeks and there will be separate groups to prepare how they will deal with domestic security and financial issues.
A Taliban official told Reuters that the Taliban’s “legal, religious and foreign policy experts” would be consulted, while members of the previous government would be called in for “crisis management.” It is reported that the Taliban will not make any official announcements about the government until August 31, the deadline set by the United States for the full withdrawal of troops.
The Taliban, who follow an ultra-hard interpretation of Sunni Islam, have ruled out the possibility of Western-style democracy in Afghanistan, but an official said their regime “would protect the rights of everyone.”
Abdullah Abdullah, a former envoy for peace in the ousted government who worked with the Taliban to ensure a peaceful transition of power, tweeted that he had met with the acting Taliban governor for Kabul on Saturday, who “assured us that ‘he would do everything possible for the safety of persons’.
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