Francis X. Murphy
Friday, Oct. 26, 2001

So says exiled Afghan Zimari Hekami, for whom the Taliban - as the Soviets earlier - present a foreign power. Hekami hopes that after the fall of the Taliban, Afghans will not be left alone once again by the United States.

Hekami, who is a leading member of the Swiss-Afghan Institute, made these statements in an interview with Der Bund, a daily paper published in Bern, Switzerland.

Hekami said, "I’m thankful that the USA is helping us fight or throw the Taliban out of the land." He thinks the Pakistanis and Iranians had too much influence on "installing a foreign government" after the U.S. forgot about Afghanistan after the Soviets pulled out.

He also pointed out: "Look at the pictures on TV. These are not people in Kabul who are against the bombings and demonstrate against the USA. The pictures of these demonstrations come from Islamabad, Karachi, and from the cities of other Islamic countries. From that one can see that the Taliban does not have the least support from the people."

In response to further questions from Der Bunt, Hekami said, "One must distinguish between the Afghani Taliban and the International Taliban. The latter are considered extremists and drug handlers of the terrorists of Osama vin Laden. They come from the most part from Pakistan and control the land with the help of the Pakistan Secret Service, ISI. The Afghani Taliban is less developed and controlled by extremists."

Der Bund: And the leader of the Taliban Mullah Omar? Is he also controlled?

Hekami: Mullah Omar's father was a Pakistani Pashtun who had come to Afghanistan 45 years ago and found work as a mullah. His son Mullah Omar was born in Afghanistan, that's true. It is clear anyway that the Pakistani Secret Service stood behind his rise to power. Mullah Omar has not a single relative in Afghanistan.

Der Bund asked whether the bombings would entrench the Taliban or dishearten and break them.

Hekami: About that for me there is no doubt. In the places which have been taken over by the Northern Alliance, half of the Taliban have been killed, not by the fighters of the Northern Alliance but by the natives.

With the bombing, the morale of the Taliban will be broken. Already many commanders are defecting to the Northern Alliance. One of the others has already shot himself.

Der Bund: A stable situation [in Afghanistan] requires the elimination of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda. Will the U.S. catch bin Laden?

Hekami: Alone, certainly not. Bin Laden has hidden himself for a long time. It is only possible for the U.S. with help from Afghanis to come near the terrorists.

Der Bund: And if they find him, will they not destroy Al-Qaeda at the same time?

Hekami: Al-Qaeda does not have many associates in Afghanistan. If the power of the Taliban were destroyed, then these 9,000 or 12,000 "Afghani Arabians" would run. According to my information, there are now countless members of Al-Qaeda who have fled from Afghanistan because they no longer feel secure there.

Der Bund: And to where are they fleeing?

Hekami: To Pakistan.

Der Bund: So what to do?

Hekami: We need these international anti-terror coalitions which President Bush is now creating, and in this coalition there must be governments which support the West and are against the West [but are all] against terrorism in the entire world; exactly how Bush has formulated it. Who is not for us is for terror.

Der Bund: If Muslim civilians in Afghanistan die under the bombing of the Americans, will it be difficult to hold the Islamic lands in the coalition?

Hekami: I’ll say it once, brutally. There will be countless numbers of Afghanis dead. After 23 years of war ... if one starves or if one is felled by a bomb, there is no great difference. Coalition governments and their experts must now develop strategies for how one can hinder the continuation of terrorist structures like in Afghanistan.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
War on Terrorism

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