Ex-Taliban commander surrenders

Business in eastern Khost province came to a complete standstill yesterday as the brother of a former Taliban minister reportedly surrendered to the local administration in Gardez amid a row over the collection of weapons between the local tribes and the government.

Afghan sources said yesterday that a former Taliban commander has surrendered to Afghan authorities along with 150 of his companions in eastern Afghanistan.

Mohammed Ibrahim gave himself up on Sunday in the city of Gardez, capital of Paktia province, where U.S. forces and the Afghan militia are currently engaged in operations in the mountains against Al Qaida and Taliban fighters.

Ibrahim is the elder brother of Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani, who was border affairs minister in the ousted Taliban regime. Haqqani, who gained fame as a Mujahideen commander in the 1979-1989 Jihad against Soviet occupation, is on the list of former Taliban officials wanted by the United States.

This was confirmed by a spokesman of the shoora in Gardez. "We have assured Haji Ibrahim that he will neither be persecuted not arrested. He is free to move and is now part of the government," said the spokesman, who did not disclose his name.

The spokesman claimed that a representative jirga of local elders met the governor and sought amnesty for Ibrahim against the assurance that he (Ibrahim) will not indulge in anti-government activities.

Locals reaching the Pakistani tribal areas claimed that Ibrahim was under virtual siege for quite some time and had no option but to surrender or join the anti-government forces. There is no word on the whereabouts of Haqqani.

Earlier reports suggesting that Haqqani has been killed in the U.S. bombing in Khost have not been rejected by local tribesmen, who insists that the former Mujahideen leader was safe and sound and had been spotted in Paktia recently.

Meanwhile, the residents of Khost said business in Khost city and other parts of the province remained suspended and local tribesmen closed down all their business in protest against the government decision to disarm the population, Khan, a resident of Khost city said on telephone.

"Yes, the closure of business was to show unity and express resentment over the government decision," Khan said adding that claims about the fall of parts of Khost and Gardez to the re-emerging Taliban units carry no weight.

"I am sure the people will resist if the government pushed for the forcible surrender of arms," he said adding that tribesmen are holding jirgas to oppose the move and vowed to resist if the decision was implemented against the will of the tribesmen.

A large number of U.S. and the allied Afghan groups are stationed at different parts of Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces as part of the ground operation against the Taliban and Al Qaida fighters reportedly putting stiff resistance in the Arma mountains of Shahi Kot area of Gardez, in marked variance to reports of a Taliban rout by the U.S. forces.