Kabul: Afghanistan will be led by a 12-member council, and the seven candidates that have been already agreed on include ex-Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the High Council for National Reconciliation chief Abdullah Abdullah and Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban (banned as a terrorist organization in Russia), a source close to senior Taliban circles told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“Afghanistan would be governed by a 12-member council, with the exception of the president and the emirate. So far, the council has agreed on Abdul Ghani Baradar, [son of Taliban founder] Mullah Yaqub, [high-ranking member of the Haqqani network terrorist group] Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai, [ex-Afghan Interior Minister] Hanif Atmar and [the leader of the Party of Islam] Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,” the source said.
Talks are underway to appoint the remaining five members of the council, Afghan National Army Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and ex-Balkh province governor Atta Mohammad Noor may not join the council, the source added.
The Taliban have not yet commented officially.
