From his hilltop headquarters in the
center of the southern Afghan town of Musa Qala,
former Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Salaam has a
sweeping view over dusty flatlands in northern
Helmand province. But Musa Qala is like a ghost
town now compared to the bustling center it had
been under Taliban control last year.
Just
before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) led an offensive in December to wrest Musa
Qala from the Taliban, Salaam defected to the side
of the central government. Afghan President Hamid
Karzai later appointed him as the district chief
in Musa Qala.
As a former Taliban
commander, he still has a penchant for
quoting the Koran - whether he
is speaking to journalists, the US ambassador to
Kabul, or NATO military officers. But now, he is
also lecturing the Taliban leadership on the
meaning of the Koran and Islam. "We must ask what
is the goal of those who are fighting our
government and the people of this country? What do
they want?" Salaam says.
Salaam says he
decided to support the Kabul government after he
became convinced that Taliban leader Mullah Omar
and his followers were violating the "orders of
God" as revealed in the Koran.
"My
brothers," Salaam says, "these were the first five
verses of the Koran that were revealed to the
Prophet Mohammad at Mount Hira: 'Read! In the Name
of your Lord, Who has created all, has created man
from a blood clot. Read! And your Lord is the Most
Generous, who has taught by the pen, has taught
man that which he knew not."
Salaam says
those verses led him to question who the Taliban
really are after seeing them "taking pens from our
children and taking away schools and education".
'Take up the pen' "If we take
action based on the Koran and based on God's
orders, God says to take up the pen," Salaam says.
"But if the Taliban do not allow us to take up the
pen, then I must demand to know what they are
inspired by."
Salaam says he knows from
his days as a Taliban commander that Mullah Omar
still sends orders to militants in the form of
audio recordings from a cave where he hides.
But he thinks legitimate Islamic scholars
would reject Omar's claims of authority. He says
that's because Mullah Omar relinquished his
authority before he fled Kandahar in late 2001 -
passing his powers on to a commander named
Naqibakhond who has since been killed by coalition
forces in Afghanistan.
"So Mullah Omar has
resigned his authority as emir," Salaam concludes.
"Islamic scholars know that an emir who has given
his authority away can no longer claim to be an
emir. And now, [Omar] is so weak that he is hiding
in a cave. He gives his orders on an audio
recording. And he orders the killing of teachers
and students and the destruction of schools. This
is not the Islamic way. And it is not the Islamic
way for an emir to resign and then claim that he
still has authority as an emir."
The
Taliban are not happy about Mullah Salaam's
defection and already have tried to kill him.
Salaam survived one attempted assassination in
January when a suicide bomber managed to injure
several of Salaam's bodyguards.
The town
of Musa Qala is still struggling in the aftermath
of the December offensive. Thousands of residents
were forced from their homes by the fighting.
Many of the displaced tell Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty's Radio Free Afghanistan that
they prefer living on the dusty, rural plain
outside of the town for now. Fearing fresh
fighting between NATO and the Taliban in the
spring, they say it is too early to start
rebuilding what is left of their community.
Pulling a threatening Taliban letter from
his pocket - which was posted anonymously at night
on the walls and doors of buildings in Musa Qala -
Salaam says he doesn't think last month's attack
will be the last against him.
"I have a
short night letter in my pocket and you will see
that even in this letter, they humiliate the Koran
of God," Salaam says. "They posted this on
people's homes and signed it at the end. The
author doesn't know the Koran. At the beginning,
he writes, 'The Great God says in the Koran....'
But although they talk about what the Koran says,
they don't follow the Koran. I say they should
stop deceiving themselves. They should not pervert
the Koran like this. They should not sell Islam."
Building trust? When locals talk
about Salaam's defection from the Taliban, they
are careful to avoid expressing personal opinions
- fearing possible retaliation from both the
Taliban and government forces if they support one
side or the other.
With Taliban fighters
still positioned within two kilometers of Musa
Qala, most residents say they hope their town
eventually will be firmly behind only one side -
rather than being split by loyalties to both the
Taliban and the Afghan government. Meanwhile, they
also anxiously await the arrival of reconstruction
aid promised by NATO forces in Afghanistan.
With so many residents and shop owners
still away from Musa Qala, the town's central
bazaar stands almost empty. It is a dramatic
contrast to the bazaar's appearance under Taliban
control last year when it was bustling with
activity. And since December, the prices of basic
foods already have doubled. Still, under the
Taliban, most traders at the bazaar had sold
weapons or large bags of heroin and opium.
The government in Kabul has responded to
Salaam's earliest request - to deploy hundreds of
Afghan police and troops to Musa Qala. Those
forces now comprise most of the security guards
posted around Salaam's hilltop headquarters. Of
some 300 fighters form Salaam's own militia force,
only the most trusted are allowed to carry weapons
through the checkpoints and into the headquarters.
His 19-year-old son, who still wears the
black turban of the Taliban, is Salaam's most
trusted companion. He accompanies Salaam to all of
his official meetings and even carries his
father's mobile telephone.
For his part,
the 45-year-old Salaam continues to wear the long,
black beard and the turban that he donned during
his days as the Taliban regime's governor of
nearby Oruzgun province.
That could help
him maintain his credentials as an Islamist and
tribal leader. And with the government hoping more
moderate Taliban will join him and support Kabul,
it also gives Mullah Salaam the appearance of
being what some Afghans now call "good Taliban" as
opposed to "armed Taliban".
Ron
Synovitz covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
Iraq as well as economic transition and human
rights issues. He reported on the US Army's
advance from Kuwait to Baghdad as an embedded
journalist (March-April 2003). He has a master's
degree in journalism from Southern Illinois
University-Carbondale.
(RFE/RL's Radio
Free Afghanistan correspondent Saleh Mohammad
Saleh contributed to this report from Musa Qala in
Afghanistan.)
Copyright (c) 2007,
RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
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