Author: Times Insight Group
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 31, 2008
He is a slightly built man with a flowing,
gray-flecked beard. He has been a guerrilla for nearly three decades, except
for a stint as a government minister. He is an Islamic scholar, equally comfortable
firing shoulder fired Stingers and negotiating with American or Saudi paymasters.
Meet Maulana Jalaluddin Haqqani, 60, recognized as the emerging leader of
a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Haqqani made his name in the jihad against
the communists in Afghanistan much before the Taliban emerged out of Kandahar.
He was credited with the first ever victory against the Najibullah government
in 1991 when his Pashtun fighters dramatically seized the town of Khost in
eastern Afghanistan. His extensive contacts in Saudi Arabia helped him mobilize
huge funds for the war.
In those days, Haqqani reportedly had the
largest hoard of weaponry received from the US. This was the time when he
forged links with the ISI of Pakistan, which was deeply involved in the anti-Soviet
war. Such was his legend both as a scholar and as a strategic military commander
that the Taliban offered him a ministership in their government in Kabul.
After the US attacked Afghanistan in 2001, Haqqani was pursued by US raids
in western Afghanistan. He escaped to Miram Shah in Waziristan. From there
arose the Haqqani network-a secretive,
loosely-knit organization of fighters carrying out raids and suicide bombings
in Afghanistan, and if need be, in Pakistan.
His ISI connections helped him retain the
safe haven in Pakistan. One of his sons, Sirajuddin, known as Khalifa, has
also emerged as a leader of this network. In recent years, as Haqqani's influence
has grown, he challenged Mullah Omar, ridiculing him as an illiterate. This
led to several overtures being made by the US to win him over to their side.
These, however, failed as Haqqani and his son vowed to continue the jihad.
Recent US air strikes targeting Haqqani's
base area in Pakistan's frontier region show that the move has fizzled out.
Haqqani is once again in the thick of the fight, but this time he may well
emerge as the new leader of the Taliban.