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Official blames US for Rabbani assassination

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 21, IRNA -- Head of Foreign Ministry’s Afghanistan Headquarters, Mohsen Pakaeen, says Americans had had a role in assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, former Afghan president and head of the council in charge of holding peace talks with Taliban.

Pakaeen told IRNA that the strategic cooperation pact between Kabul and Washington would have negative consequences for the region and is not an issue solely concerning the US and Afghanistan.

Tehran has not opposed conclusion of a contract for strategic cooperation between other countries and Afghanistan but is explicitly opposing the Kabul-Washington accord.

Any strategic cooperation pact is praiseworthy in nature and any countries having close ties can sign many contracts in different political, economic and other fields.

Noting that Americans pursue certain goals in Afghanistan, he said many countries were present in Afghanistan for some reasons such as campaign against terrorism and support for human rights but Americans are after other goals beyond the boundaries of Afghanistan.

Burhanuddin Rabbani was President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. After the Taliban government was toppled during Operation Enduring Freedom, Rabbani returned to Kabul and served as a temporary President from November to December 20, 2001, when Hamid Karzai was chosen at the Bonn International Conference on Afghanistan. Rabbani was also the leader of Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Society of Afghanistan), which has close ties to Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami.

He was one of the earliest founders and movement leaders of the Mujahideen in the late 1970s, right before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He served as the political head of the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA), an alliance of various political groups who fought against the Taliban in Afghanistan. His government was recognized by many countries, as well as the United Nations. He later became head of Afghanistan National Front (known in the media as United National Front), the largest political opposition to Hamid Karzai's government. On 20 September 2011, Rabbani was assassinated by a suicide bomber entering his home in Kabul. Four other members of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, were also killed in the explosion.

One senior analyst, Taliban expert and former deputy European Union special representative to Afghanistan Michael Semple, described the attack as “one of the biggest blows the peace process in Afghanistan".

Ministry of Interior sources told The Daily Telegraph the attack had been carried out by two suicide bombers at Professor Rabbani’s home in Kabul’s upmarket Wazir Akhbar Khan neighbourhood. A loud explosion was heard in the area.

As suggested by the Afghan parliament, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai gave him the title of "Martyr of Peace". His son Salahuddin Rabbani was chosen in April 2012 to lead efforts to forge peace in Afghanistan with the Taliban.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 1023488