NEFA Exclusive: New Interview with Taliban Spokesman Zahidullah Mujahid

By Evan Kohlmann

On January 4, 2008, NEFA Foundation Investigator Claudio Franco conducted a telephone interview with Taliban spokesman Zahidullah Mujahid. During the interview, Mujahid strongly denied any suggestion that Taliban elements in either Pakistan or Afghanistan were behind the recent assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The Taliban spokesman also denied that two European diplomats expelled from Afghanistan in late December were involved in any negotiations with Taliban officials. An audio recording of the interview (with English subtitles) is now available on the NEFA Foundation website, as well as an English-language text transcript.

Highlights from the interview:

- On the Benazir Bhutto assassination and the reported involvement of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud:

Q: “Recently Pakistan witnessed a wave of violence in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination - who could be responsible? And who has profited from her killing? How did you react?”
A: “The Islamic Emirate expressed its position at the time, saying that these unfortunate events are caused by the Americans and their puppets and have affected Afghanistan and neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. So we think that the Bhutto killing is the work of the Americans and Western intelligence. In order to divide Muslims, they ignite fighting among them and take advantage. As a result, Muslim countries become unstable, and not the Western countries.”

Q: “The government of Pakistan has blamed Al Qaeda and Baitullah Mehsud [Leader of Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan] - what do you think of this claim?”
A: “No. They denied any involvement in carrying out this act themselves, because Benazir was not their target. They have said Benazir was a woman, and their tribal tradition does not allow killing a woman.”

Q: “Is there coordination between you and Baitullah Mehsud?”
A: “There is an ideological proximity. But there is no such thing as us taking orders from them or the other way around. They are carrying out their activities in their own area and our concentration is focused on Afghanistan, not anywhere else.”

“We have our Emir [leader] and organizational structure; the leader oversees those who are working under him. If somebody is found violating our principles, he can be removed. We obey our Emir, as long as his decisions are in accordance to Islamic principles. He can remove anyone who is not working according the movement’s principles and replace him with another person. Our Emir said that he [Mansour] is no longer a commander... [Mansour] said himself that if Emir-ul-Momineen [Commander of the Faithful] issued an order for his execution, he would accept it. So I do not think he will oppose the removal order... Nobody has been appointed yet. It is possible that in the coming days the Shura [Council] will be convened and will choose a replacement. God willing we will then announce that.”

- On reports of negotiations between Taliban commanders and European diplomats in Afghanistan:

"The Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate, including Mansour Dadullah, insist that there should be no talks with the foreigners. This may be a rumour and it is not true. He was not sacked because he met the British or others... No one by the name of Michel Semple has contacted the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate. It is possible that he might have had contact with other people. These would be personal contacts and they might have acted as agents, but it is not true that he met any top commanders, or established any influence over the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate... This is something related to the future. We will agree to negotiations when they [the Coalition] leave our country; they came and occupied everything by force, so it is clear that there should be no negotiations, because we consider them occupiers, and no negotiations are possible with occupiers.”

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