Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

America made an irreversible mistake in their choice of friends, ignoring their history with Afghanistan. The Afghan allies they chose were often warlords who had returned to Afghanistan in the wake of battle, using America and damaging the very foundations of the new Afghanistan they planned to create. Another strategic mistake was to allow Great Britain to return to the south, or Afghanistan in general.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: Epilogue – Afghanistan Today

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Afghanistan’s political situation is tied to the international scene, a political game in which the most disparate nations are tied together in one dishonest chain. Things are so confused you cannot tell back from front. Why don’t these people get themselves out of Afghanistan? It is all temporary anyway. Maybe they will leave sooner; maybe they will stay a bit longer. But one thing is clear: Afghanistan has the right to resist invasion. We have the right to save our honour. We have the right to take revenge on those who have spilled our blood.
…

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 21. No War To Win

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

I was astonished to read the terms listed on this piece of paper. The group of soldiers and some senior officials were recording everything with their video camera as I listened to the translator. They handed me the paper to sign it, but I threw it back at them in anger.

“I am innocent, and not a criminal,” I said. “I never have, nor will I, accept any kind of accusations. And never will I excuse or thank the Americans for releasing me. If I have committed any crime, which tribunal or court has proved me a criminal!?

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 20. Getting Out

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Mullah Fazal was punished for forty-one days because he did not answer the questions during an interrogation. During the nights he remained chained up in the interrogation room with the air-conditioning unit on full blast. The soldiers made sure to keep him awake. During the day they forced him to walk around so he wouldn’t fall asleep. Visitors were always brought to Camp Four, and never saw the real Guantánamo, just a few metres away.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 19. Graveyard of the Living

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

When the third camp was built, our circumstances deteriorated. We were served less food, the quality worsened and punishment increased. Cube block was an example: newly made, the living conditions were very hard. Prisoners were left to live in open cages in their underwear no matter what the season, not being able to cover themselves even for prayers. Very little food was served and the soldiers would abuse the prisoners. The toilet was visible to all and the cages weren’t big enough for prisoners to lie down to sleep.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 18. Guantánamo Bay

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

The Pakistani soldiers were all staring as the Americans hit me and tore the remaining clothes off from my body. Eventually I was completely naked, and the Pakistani soldiers—the defenders of the Holy Qur’an—shamelessly watched me with smiles on their faces, saluting this disgraceful action of the Americans. They held a handover ceremony with the Americans right in front of my eyes.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 17. Prisoner 306

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

When I reached Kandahar, the city was in chaos. Kabul had fallen only two days previously, and a cloud of sorrow hung over those left in Kandahar. I went straight to the headquarters that had been set up in a new building inside the city. I wanted to meet Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 16. A Hard Realisation

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

My mind raced as I looked at the screen and considered the probable repercussions of the attack. At that very moment, I knew that Afghanistan and its poverty-stricken people would ultimately suffer for what had just taken place in America. The United States would seek revenge, and they would turn to our troubled country.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 15: 9/11 and its Aftermath

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

The UN worked hard to maintain a good relationship with Afghanistan and the embassy. They would visit regularly and make sure that whenever a senior official from abroad paid a visit to their department, they would include a meeting with our embassy in their schedule. In retrospect, I believe it was as a result of their frequent visits that we came under more and more pressure.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 14. The Osama Issue

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Even though Pakistan and the ISI maintained close relations with the Taliban, they also continued to uphold their ties to our opposition.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 13. Growing Tensions

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

I often told the US Ambassador that he should contact myself and the Afghan Embassy directly and not try to solve the problems they had with Afghanistan though the mediation of the government of Pakistan or its administration. “Pakistan”, I told him, “is never an honest mediator and will control and manipulate any talk they mediate or participate in”. I passed on the same advice to all other diplomats and embassies, as well as the United Nations.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 12. Diplomatic Principles

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Working in the field of diplomacy without any experience in such a fragile and charged environment was a monumental task. I knew about the difficult situation and the role that the embassy in Islamabad played in the events that were unfolding. All this left me concerned upon hearing the announcement of my appointment as ambassador.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 11. A Monumental Task

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

I was still upset when I returned to Kabul. I had no wish to return to government, but going to prison wasn’t a serious alternative and I had sworn in Sangisar to stand by Mullah Mohammad Omar no matter what. After two days in Kabul I was appointed the Deputy Minister of Mines and Industries. Amir ul-Mu’mineen had written a decree that was announced over the radio. A few days later I was officially introduced at the ministry by members of the Independent Administration of Affairs.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 10. Mines And Industries

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

After returning from Herat I decided to stay home for a month to reflect on the past few years, while my brother—who had since returned from his studies—stood in for me at the mosque. But before I could return to my mosque Mullah Mohammad Omar sent a car for me. His title had changed and he was now called Amir ul-Mu’mineen. We sat down in his office and he asked me about my health and my family. “It was a good idea to take a month off”, he told me. “It is good to rest. But now you should return to your work”.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 9. Administrative Rule

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

At the time the Taliban did not have any plans to extend their activities beyond those two districts. We were mainly thinking about our friends and neighbours, the villages and towns in which we lived. The situation had become so bad that something needed to be done, but no one seemed to be able or willing to try to stand up to the rogue commanders and bandits. We informed only the people along the road. But instead of complying with our calls for them to leave their checkpoints, the situation deteriorated.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 8. The Beginning

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

For the next few years I lived in Pakistan but frequently visited Kandahar. In the early 1990s, after the fall of Najibullah and the arrival of the mujahedeen government, Afghanistan seemed to disintegrate.

Fighting had broken out in Kabul but soon swept down through the south. Local commanders such as Ustaz Abdul Haleem, Hajji Ahmad, Mullah Naqib and others were clashing within the city limits and in the surrounding districts for power and control. Fighting became so intense that it was impossible to live a normal life.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 7. Taking Action

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Under the shadow of this new government, the Russians announced their intention to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan. When I first learned about this I was very happy. The jihad seemed to be over, and we had won. I had never thought that I would live to see the day when the Soviet Union left Afghanistan. I was sure I would be martyred by one of their bullets: I even wished for it. Every time I went on an operation I believed I would not return. With the defeat came new hope, though, and I found myself praying to God that he would let me live to see Afghanistan as a free and independent Islamic country with an Islamic government.

But the loose alliance between the different mujahedeen groups crumbled before our eyes as everyone started to pursue their own goals. What came next obliterated what we had fought for, and defamed the name and honour of the mujahedeen and the jihad itself.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 6. Withdrawal

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

Mullah Mohammad Omar Akhund, who later became the leader of the Taliban movement, was the commander of our fronts in the north. Mullah Mohammad Omar Akhund, Mullah Mazullah, Mullah Feda Mohammad and Mullah Obaidullah Akhund were the main leaders of that battle in Sangisar.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 5. Bitter Pictures

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

In the early 1980s the ISI began to run a special weapons training programme for the mujahedeen. The new weapons, so we were promised, would allow us to destroy Russian tanks and shoot their helicopters out of the sky. Mullah Mohammad Sadiq chose me along with several other mujahedeen to take part in the training programme. We went to Sayyaf’s office in Quetta where Commander Abdullah, the head of the office and responsible for south-eastern Afghanistan, introduced us to Pakistani officials.
…

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 4. Lessons from the ISI

Reading Abdul Salam Zaeef: My Life with the Taliban:

We travelled on foot, each carrying our own ammunition, although later we occasionally found tractors and cars as transport. Back roads and smuggling tracks through valleys and mountains bypassed Soviet or Afghan Communist checkpoints and we sometimes rode motorcycles or horses on longer journeys.

Cont. reading: Reading Zaeef: 3. The Jihad