TAJIK OPPOSITION HEAD RECALLS MEETING WITH TALIBAN LEADER
Q&A with Said Abdullah Nouri: 11/13/01

Northern Alliance units entered Kabul on November 13 after Taliban troops abandoned their defensive positions in a strategic withdrawal to strongholds in southern Afghanistan. US officials portray the situation in the Afghan capital as "fluid." The flight of the Taliban is prompting the international community to refocus attention on building a post-Taliban order. EurasiaNet spoke recently to Said Abdullah Nouri, a leader of Tajikistan's Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), about the Taliban, and the prospects for peace in Afghanistan. Tajikistan is still struggling to recover from a 1992-97 civil war. However, Nouri held out hope that the experience of the Tajik peace process could help Afghanistan recover from decades of warfare. The Tajik peace accords signed in 1997 called for the integration of leaders of the United Tajik Opposition, which included the IRP, into government structures. Over time, erstwhile enemies have learned to cooperate.
Nouri gave this interview to EurasiaNet before the start of the Northern Alliance offensive, but his comments remain pertinent.

EurasiaNet: Some people in the United States suggest that moderate Taliban leaders could be incorporated into future governmental structures in Afghanistan. Have you met Taliban representatives who you view as moderate?
Nouri: We don't know the Taliban. We had only one meeting with Mullah [Mohammed] Omar. We don't have any other relationship with them, and we don't know any moderate or non-moderate representatives of them.

EurasiaNet: Can you tell us about that meeting?
Nouri: In 1997, a group of [Tajik] parliamentarians was on a UN's plane that took off from Mashad [in Iran] to Tahor [province in Afghanistan]. When we were over Afghan territory, Taliban military planes forced us to land in Shindan military airport [in southwestern Afghanistan]. We were taken to Kandahar, where we met Mullah Omar, and even became his guests for one night.

EurasiaNet: What did you discuss with Mullah Omar?
Nouri: My meeting with Mullah Omar had three parts. The first part was an introduction. They wanted to find out what we were, i.e. did we belong to Islam or not. If we were Muslims, were we then Sunni or Shi'ia? If we were Sunni, which particular school we belonged to? In short, those long discussions we had all together, and they had separately with each of us. [They] clarified that we were Sunnis and belonged to Hanafi school. The second part was on the aims of the Islamic Renaissance Party. We said that our aims are to gain a healthy belief, freedom and independence for our country. … And the third part of our discussions was on the state of the Burhanuddin Rabbani's government [the Islamic State of Afghanistan] and his opposition [to the Taliban]. They asked our opinion on this, and on the fights they had [between the Taliban and Northern Alliance]. In short, we answered that the problem in Afghanistan could not be solved by the military [force]. The only way is for you two first, and the others later, to meet and get this country [Afghanistan] back on its feet. Mullah Omar said that, at that particular time, the problem of Afghanistan could not have a political solution. Only by removing by force others [the Northern Alliance] and establishing a single [integral] country could there be a solution.

EurasiaNet: Did Osama bin Laden attend the meeting?
Nouri: He was not there that time. … We ourselves after this meeting returned to Tajikistan, then left to Iran and Moscow. We never went back to Afghanistan again.

EurasiaNet: Can the experience of the Tajik peace process serve as a model for the reconstruction of Afghanistan?
Nouri: After the work of the National Reconciliation Committee was over in Tajikistan and we were sure on the stability of peace, I left Tajikistan for Saudi Arabia. During my visit I met Afghan people living there who themselves came for a meeting with me and expressed their wish that I try to do in Afghanistan what I managed to do in Tajikistan. They even mentioned God in this relation, saying that if I didn't resolve their problem, they would be witnessing against me in front of the God on the Judgment Day. During a visit to Iran, where about 3 million Afghan [refugees] live, Afghan representatives also told me that if we Muslim religious people managed to make peace with our opponents, who were secular [in Tajikistan], then why couldn't we bring together few Muslim leaders [in Afghanistan]? … Well, in this connection we have done few things. For example, by my own initiative I met with my Muslim brothers [Gulbuldin] Hikmatiyar, [Burhanuddin] Rabbani, [Gen. Rashid] Dostum and Ismail Khan. Of course, we obtained the support of Pakistan's government and the Embassy of the Pakistan to have a meeting with the
Taliban. Unfortunately, at the moment the situation has developed out of the framework we had to act within. Now, bombings and similar things have been going on. Nobody trusts anybody anymore. Nobody has time to listen to anybody.

EurasiaNet: What is your view on Taliban's interpretation of Islam?
Nouri: The Taliban … looks at Islam from a traditional tribal view. That is the reason why what they have been doing contradicts many rules and laws of Islam. They do many things that are not accepted by real Islam. I can raise an example of women's education. They closed all the madrasas [schools] that were for girls and removed women from their jobs. This openly contradicts [my] view of Islam. Even the simplest Muslim knows that acquiring knowledge is a duty of a Muslim. That is why Islamic Revival Party follows real Islam - Islam that answers all the needs of people. We would like the world to rise above discussions of civilizations and come to cooperation of them, i.e. cooperation of Islamic civilization with Western, or secular civilizations. There should be political cooperation between them. … Tajiks have solved this problem.

EurasiaNet: What is your view of military operations in Afghanistan?
Nouri: We would like to see anti-terrorist actions led by organizations such as United Nations, OSCE and Islamic Conference. The reason why we want this is that the problem [of terrorism] is a global one. … Actions have to be taken directly against terrorists and all precautions should be taken to protect the civil population. We heard that the Red Cross Committee, hospitals and mosques, … as well as residential areas, happened to be bombed. I think [this] will ultimately cause hatred [for the United States among] Afghans. Our people don't want, God forbid, to have a religious war start in the region, or in the world. We should be careful.

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Posted November 13, 2001 © Eurasianet
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