Habibullah Fawzi

Habibullah Fawzi
Member of the Afghanistan High Peace Council
Personal details
Citizenship Afghanistan
Nationality Afghanistan
Political party Taliban

Habibullah Fawzi is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was a senior diplomat during the Taliban's administration of Afghanistan, and was appointed to the Afghanistan High Peace Council in September 2010.[1][2][3][4][5] Fawzi had served as the Charge D'Affairs at the Taliban's embassy in Saudi Arabia.[6]

On January 7, 2002, Newsday described Habibullah as one of the senior Taliban leaders who had defected, went into exile in Pakistan, and were seeking a peaceful role in Afghanistan's politicis.[7] The defectors revived a defunct political party, Jamiat Khudamul Furgan, translated as "Association of the servants of the Quran".[8]

In 2005 Habibullah, and three other former Taliban leaders described as moderates, Abdul Hakim Mujahid, Arsullah Rahmani and Rahmatullah Wahidyar met with officials of the Hamid Karzai administration to discuss the possible surrender of active Taliban fighters.[6] Radio Free Europe interviewed Habibullah in March 2005.[9] In an interview published on March 4, 2005 Radio Free Europe, Habibullah said that the moderates had been in talks with the Karzai administration for the previous two years.

Habibullah, and the other three men had been named on the United Nations 1267 list, a list of several hundred individuals upon whom member nations were to impose financial sanctions because they were suspected of playing a role in international terrorism.[4] The list was first published in 1999. The United Nations removed Habibullah and the other three men in July 2011.[1]

In September 2011 Habibullah was one of the former Taliban officials who offered details as to how a Taliban messenger had assassinated Burnahuddin Rabbani, the former President of Afghanistan who chaired the High Peace Council.[10]

“...wearing Afghan style clothes – shalwar kamez and turban – came from Quetta to Kabul with a message of peace from the Taliban. He met Rabbani and Stanekzai. Rabbani was expecting him. He was supposed to be a key member of the Taliban. They discussed peace and after the meeting was over Rabbani stood up to wish this man goodbye. Rabbani and the Talib hugged and that was when he blew himself up.”

References

  1. 1 2 David Ariosto (2011-07-16). "14 ex-Taliban members removed from U.N. sanctions". CNN. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  2. "High Peace and Reconcilliation Council". High Peace and Reconcilliation Council. 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  3. Abdul Qadir Siddique (2010-09-29). "Peace council members named". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
  4. 1 2 John R. Bolton, Denied Persons Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution, United States Federal Registry, 2003, accessdate = 2010-11-03
  5. "UN removes 14 Taliban members from sanctions list". Dawn (newspaper). 2011-07-16.
  6. 1 2 Ron Synovitz (2009-01-08). "Afghanistan: A First Step Toward 'Turning' Moderate Taliban?". Radio Free Europe. Afghan authorities met with four former senior Taliban leaders, thought to be moderate members of the ousted regime, in a bid to get more hardened fighters to surrender. The Taliban's former unofficial envoy to the UN, Abdul Hakim Mujahid, former Deputy Higher Education Minister Arsullah Rahmani, former Deputy Minister of Refugees Rahmatullah Wahidyar, and Habibullah Fawzi, former charge d'affaires at the Afghan Embassy in Saudi Arabia, met with authorities in Kabul.
  7. Mohamad Bazzi (2002-01-07). "Taliban by Any Other Name?". Newsday. Their choice of a venue for the December announcement highlighted the presence of many ex-Taliban leaders who not only had sought refuge in Pakistan but also intended to resume political activities. To many analysts, the group's public presence in Pakistan underscored this country's long history of support for the Taliban and Islamabad's uneasiness about the makeup of the new Afghan government.
  8. Satyabrata Rai Chowdhuri (2002-04-05). "Taliban in a new name?". Daily Excelsior.
  9. Sultan Sarwar, Golnaz Esfandiari (2005-03-04). "Afghanistan: RFE/RL Interviews Former Taliban Involved In Reconciliation Talks". Radio Free Europe. Habibullah Fawzi, a former Taliban diplomat at the Afghan Embassy in Riyadh, is one of four senior former Taliban members who have responded to an amnesty offer by the Afghan government. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, he explains his motivations and plans for the future.
  10. Lianne Gutcher, Dean Nelson (2011-09-20). "Turban bomber kills former Afghan president". The Telegraph (UK).
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