KABUL: Supreme leader of Afghan Taliban Mullah Omar on Wednesday said it was “legitimate” to carry out peace talks aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan.
The leader who is supposed to be living in hiding said in his annual message on the eve of Eid that the purpose of talks was to “bring and end to the occupation” of Afghanistan”.
Omar was Afghanistan’s 11th head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title “Head of the Supreme Council”. He held the title Commander of the Faithful of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which was recognized by only three nations: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mullah Omar has been declared wanted by the United States Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program since October 2001 for sheltering Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda militants in the years prior to the September 11 attacks.
He is believed to be directing the Taliban insurgency against the United States armed forces-led International Security Assistance Force and the government of Afghanistan.
