FARUKH SHEHZAD

ISLAMABAD, AUG 31: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi stressed on Tuesday the need for the international community's cooperation for ensuring stability in Afghanistan, as he addressed a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, in Islamabad.

Qureshi said he had invited the German foreign minister to Pakistan, where he would be better able to assess the situation.

"It will give you a very good holistic view of what the challenges are, what the concerns are, what the opportunities are and what needs to be done in the days ahead," he said, adding that the German foreign minister would also realise during his visit the importance of staying engaged in Afghanistan.

"This is a pivotal moment in Afghanistan's history. The international community must remain engaged. Humanitarian assistance must flow. Do not let the economic collapse in Afghanistan take place," he said.

The foreign minister expressed the hope that Germany would make the right decisions in this regard.

Key trade partner

On bilateral relations with Germany, he said Germany has been an important investor in Pakistan and one of the largest trading partners in the European Union.

Qureshi added that there were possibilities of enhancing trade with Germany further and there were many areas where the two countries could develop economic linkages.

"There are opportunities that Germany must avail in special economic zones."

The foreign minister said expeditious German visa for Pakistanis would also be of significant help.

Evacuation efforts

Maas, who arrived in Islamabad for a two-day visit to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, said that while the Taliban had made commitments and pledges to form an inclusive government, it remained to be seen whether their promises were "reliable" in the coming days.

"It is important for us that all Afghans, even those who do not support the Taliban, feel represented by this government and it remains to be seen whether the Taliban take this into account."

He added that Germany was preparing in close coordination with others to organise charter flights after the Kabul airport became operable again.

"We are already seeing that people are travelling via land routes to the borders of Afghanistan, and we need procedures to bring these people to Germany if they are eligible," he said, adding that he had discussed the subject with Pakistani officials during the trip.

The foreign minister said he would be travelling to Doha and Qatar for the same purpose.

He thanked Pakistan for helping with evacuation from Kabul, adding that Germany stood prepared to support Afghanistan's neighbouring countries that would not abandon it in this time of crisis.

Maas said Germany was coordinating with Pakistan for the evacuation of its citizens from Afghanistan and will continue to do so in the future.

Earlier, the Associated Press of Pakistan shared a video of the German foreign minister on Twitter, stating that he was received by Qureshi at the Foreign Office (FO), where he also planted a sapling.

Prior to that, a statement issued by the FO on Monday said Maas and Qureshi would hold official talks on the latest developments in Afghanistan.

"Foreign Minister Qureshi will share Pakistan’s perspective on the evolving situation in Afghanistan and discuss ways of addressing its various dimensions," the statement said.

It added that the two ministers were also expected to discuss matters of bilateral cooperation in political, economic and trade, security, defence, cultural and academic spheres.

During the visit, Foreign Maas will also meet other high-level dignitaries, the FO said.

The German foreign minister's visit to discuss the unfolding situation in Afghanistan coincides with the completion of the US pullout from the war-torn country after 20 years.

In recent days, ahead of August 31 deadline for the US exit from Afghanistan and following the Taliban takeover, Pakistan has been emphasising the need for close coordination of the international community for restoring peace in the neighbouring country.

As part of Pakistan’s efforts in this regard, Foreign Qureshi left for a four-nation visit last week to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

After concluding the visit, Qureshi, had said that Afghanistan's neighbours were "fully aware" of the situation in Kabul and their approach towards the issue "was realistic".

"I had the opportunity to learn about their views on Afghanistan during my four-nation tour," he had said. "The entire region will benefit if there is peace and stability in Afghanistan," Qureshi had said, adding that the Taliban leadership was also in contact with all the countries.

"The people of Afghanistan have been dealing with wars for decades and want peace. They are suffering for the mistakes made in the past. We need to learn from the mistakes made in the past so that they are not repeated."

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COURTESY DAWN NEWS

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 30: An Online Round Table Discussion on “30th Anniversary of Independence of Uzbekistan: Prospects of Multifaceted Uzbek-Pakistani Connectivity” was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Islamabad on 30th August 2021.

The Round Table Discussion commenced with the Opening Remarks of Aybek Arif Usmanov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Pakistan. During his opening remarks, he highlighted the instrumental role played by Furqat Sidikov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan in lying a solid foundation of the Uzbekistan-Pakistan Connectivity.

Ambassador A.Usmanov has expressed gratitude to Deputy Minister Furqat Sidiqov for initiating the interactive session with Pakistani prominent think tanks and media and his exemplary services for two our countries Pakistan and Uzbekistan during his 5 years of excellent tenure in Islamabad as Ambassador of Uzbekistan in Pakistan.

Furqat is well known due to his relentless efforts the solid foundation of the active interaction between our leaders and experts communities well known think tanks prominent and famous Mass media editions have been established.

His activities recently were well culminated in recent outcomes of the Online summit of President Shawqat Mirziyaev and PM Imran Khan Sb and successful official visit of Prime Minister to Uzbekistan last month.

Aybek also mentioned that the well seasoned important role think tanks, vibrant media editions and educational institutes can play in further strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries. Furthermore, he stated that connectivity between the two countries in different spheres should also be promoted especially through various trade agreements, industrial and banking cooperations.

Furkat Sidikov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan mentioned that new avenues of cooperation between the two countries are being explored through various initiatives. According to H.E Furkat, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, through sincere efforts, have now become Strategic Partners.

Furkat further mentioned that despite the Pandemic, Uzbekistan and Pakistan have managed to improve their bilateral terms. He mentioned that due to our joint from January to August 2021 our bilateral trade with Pakistan through the territory of Afghanistan amounted around 104 million USD, which is for 30% higher than last year.

For  further expanding Pak-Uzbek trade and economic relations, two sides have developed Joint Road Map for the implementation of all economic agreements, PTA, banking cooperation the joint manufacturing projects which were successfully agreed during the the Highest-level in July 2021.

According to Furkat, the open and pragmatic foreign Policy of Uzbekistan has supported developing connectivity between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Addition`ally, the foreign policy of Uzbekistan also focuses on ensuring regional connectivity.

Furkat emphasized that during the 30 years of Independence, Uzbekistan has passed the challenges of the national identity, social and economic changes are being implemented consistently. Especially last five years, the processes of modernization and democratization, openness and transparency in our country have become irreversible.

Because of pragmatic policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev Uzbekistan has solved all regional problems on the basis of the principles of good neighborliness, mutual respect, trust and mutual consideration of interests.

Major General Khalid Amir Jaffery HI (M), (Retd), President, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad mentioned that Pakistan was one of the first countries to recognize Uzbekistan. He also stated that Pakistan has made sincere efforts in establishing cooperation with Uzbekistan in various spheres including economic, cultural, etc.

Major General Jaffery also mentioned that Pakistan and Uzbekistan can jointly facilitate peaceful solution and improvement of the situation in Afghanistan positively.

Dr. Mehmood-ul-Hassan Khan, a Renowned Regional Geo-Political Analyst stated that the enhanced Regional Connectivity is indeed a great achievement on part of Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Through the improved regional connectivity, both the countries can jointly work towards achieving the sense of economic development, industrialization, and green revolution.

Furthermore, Dr. Mehmood also added that the idea of Regional Connectivity presented by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will be a road map to improved bilateral relations. Additionally, he suggested that both countries should also focus on enhancing Cultural Diplomacy.

Mr. Khalid Taimur Akram, Executive Director, Center for Global & Strategic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad congratulated everyone and showed love and affiliation for Uzbek people. He discussed Pak-Uzbek relations and appreciated Furkat Sidikov’s services and efforts and his great initiatives for Pak-Uzbek relations. Mr. Khalid also recommended that the government of Pakistan should present civil award to Furkat for his efforts in enhancing the bilateral relations of Uzbekistan and Pakistan. He talked about regional connectivity and said that Central-South Asian connectivity can be a great opportunity for youth. He praised the great ideas of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He suggested that think tanks and other programs can aware youth and can help them to know about regional connectivity. He encouraged the students of Pakistan to promote their ideas.

Tahir Farooq, Editor-in-Chief of Daily Ittehad discussed about the road map to regional connectivity that it is the door to Central Asia. He said that President visionary gave idea about connectivity. While discussing about belt and road initiative he stated that it is a project of peace and prosperity. He talked about visit of PM Imran Khan to Uzbekistan. He also discussed about trade and economy collaborations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan.

Riaz A Malik, Group Editor, National Herald Tribune talked about political and economic stability of Uzbekistan and Pakistan. He stated that despite of Pandemic, regional cooperation and bilateral relations are developing between Central Asia and South Asia. He appreciated initiatives of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He discussed about strategic partnership between Pakistan and Uzbekistan. Also, he mentioned about land and air connectivity between both regions. He appreciated the innovative ideas of CGSS and its work.

Mr. Tazeen Akhtar, Editor-in-Chief, Pakistan in the World Magazine praised the visionary leadership of President of Uzbekistan who has handled the common challenges faced by the world in an exemplary manner.

Moreover, he mentioned that it was a great experience attending the recent South Asia-Central Asia Connectivity conference in Tashkent. Mr. Tazeen also talked about the emergence of Digitalization post Pandemic. He highlighted the significance of digital platforms in post-pandemic world by mentioning that these platforms are used in almost every sphere of life now.

Mr. Rasheed Khan Safi, Leading Analyst and Columnist of  Khyber News TV, mentioned that stability in Afghanistan is necessary for the maintenance of peace in the region. In this regard, Central Asia, Iran, China etc are significant actors. Mr. Rasheed also added that people-to-people contact between the two countries Pakistan and Uzbekistan is necessary for the improved bilateral relations.

The Round Table Session was moderated by Ms. Palwasha Nawaz, Project Executive, Center for Global & Startegic Studies (CGSS), Islamabad.

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WhatsApp boasts the world’s most secure encryption, but hackers can use social engineering to make their way into your chats – through you, the user. Here’s how to stay one step ahead and keep your data safe on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp, the secure messenger acquired by Facebook in 2014, currently has over 2 billion active users. These users are all protected by end-to-end encryption that keeps their chats safe from prying eyes — in fact WhatsApp is also unable to see the contents of your messages. This is thanks to the encryption protocol created by the developers of Signal Messenger, which has been implemented in WhatsApp.

While end-to-end encryption and protect users from hackers trying to read their messages over the network, hackers still manage to get the information they need from users. WhatsApp authenticates users based on their phone number, sending a verification code over SMS. As part of the scheme to “hack” a user’s account, many WhatsApp users have received scam calls and messages in the past, from malicious users who ask for “help” while posing as a known person.

This “social engineering” usually includes asking for a verification code along with excuses such as “their phone network is unavailable”. Soon after the user shares the six-digit code, the hacker gains access to their account.

Unfortunately, while you might think many users would not fall for such a scam, the reality is that many people who do not understand the way verification codes work, think they are helping their friend, but are actually handing full control of their account to the attacker. Once the attacker is in, they can simply transfer the number (along with all your groups) to another number and delete your original account. They can also pretend to be you, while cheating your friends out of their accounts too.

If you want to prevent all of the above from happening to you, here are the steps to securing your WhatsApp account. The first step is to simply decline any requests from anyone claiming to be your friend, asking for a verification code — no matter the reason.

Enable two-step verification

This setting is by far the most important setting users must enable on their WhatsApp account in order to protect themselves from hackers. The setting allows you to set a six digit PIN on your account, that will be used to unlock your account after you receive your SMS verification code. Even if a hacker manages to get hold of your SMS code, they will not be able to log in to your account if they do not have this code.

Step 1) Go to WhatsApp Settings, tap on Account and then tap on Two-Step verification.

Step 2) Now enable the setting and enter a PIN. You will need to reenter the PIN to make sure you entered it correctly.

Step 3) WhatsApp has saved your PIN at this point, but it will keep asking you to enter your PIN from time to time just to ensure that you do not forget it and get locked out of your own account.

Double check your privacy settings

While these settings are not directly related to hackers taking control of your account, they can give attackers a very good idea of who you are and the people you are in contact with, which can be users for social engineering. To prevent this from happening, you should set your privacy settings to keep your personal information out of the hands of hackers and unscrupulous elements.

Step 1) Go to WhatsApp Settings and tap on Account and tap on Privacy.

Step 2) Now check settings for Last Seen, About, Profile Photo and Status. Make sure these are all set to “My contacts” to ensure no one who you do not know can see this information.

Step 3) Make sure that you block any messages from unknown senders asking for personal information and report them to WhatsApp using the in-chat menu.

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COURTESY HT TECH

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KABUL, AUG 30 (Raja Furqan) - The brother of a British Afghan, who died when an IS-K suicide bomber hit Kabul's airport, said that his brother was shot dead by western troops. According to The Pakistan Daily report, M. Niazi, a taxi driver from London who had travelled back to Afghanistan to try and help get his family evacuated out of Kabul. 

His wife was killed in the blast, and his youngest child and eldest daughter are still believed to be missing. His brother Abdul Hamid, who survived the blast, made the claims about bullets from western guard posts killing people and told a reporter: 'The fire came from the bridges… the towers… from the soldiers'. He added: I saw some small children in the river, it was so bad. It was doomsday for us.'  

The second British victim, Musa Popal, 60, was pushing through the crowd trying to attract the attention of soldiers by waving his UK passport when he was killed by the suicide bomber, reported by The Pakistan Daily. Other witnesses to the suicide bomb attack also say that their relatives weren’t killed in the blast but by fire in the confusion afterwards. Abdul says he saw American and Turkish soldiers amid the chaotic scenes as gunfire reined over the crowds of people. 

Another man claimed his friend who had helped US forces during the war had been killed by gunfire from Western troops. 'This guy served the US Army for years,' he told media. 'And the reason he lost his life wasn’t because of Taliban, he wasn’t killed by ISIS.'

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 30: The "Chairman Bahria Town, Night Golf Championship" organized and sponsored by AAA ASSOCIATES has concluded on 28th August 2021. The tournament commenced on 23rd August 2021.

More than 50 Top Professionals competed on 23rd & 24th August for a cash prize of Rs 3 Million, 80 Club Members of Golf City Golf Club played for 16 individual prizes on 25th August. On 26th August, 12 Corporate Teams, including WAPDA, PTC, HUAWEI, and HASHOO GROUP, Competed for 3 Team Trophies as well as 8 individual prizes. 27th August was Ladies & Junior’s Night, in which 52 Golfers competed for 28 individual prizes.

The awards were distributed by Chief Guest Chairman Wapda Lt. Gen(r) Muzzamil and Dr. Asma Afzal Shami. Other dignitaries gracing the occasion were, Chairman AAA Associates Mr Sheikh Fawad Bashir, MD AAA Associates Shazad Ali Kiani, President Golf City Golf Club Cmdr(r) M. Ilyas and Secretary Garden City Golf Club Bahria Town Brig(r) Saeed Zafar Dar. 

Chairman AAA Associates Mr Sheikh Fawad Bashir professed his gratitude towards Bahia Town’s Management for granting them the opportunity to organize this tournament which provides a platform for the local community to interact with each other via sports.

MD AAA Associates Shazad Ali Kiani also expressed his appreciation towards all the partakers of the tournament and vowed to continue organizing more sports’ activities for the general populace.

The Grand Finale was played by Diplomats and around 50 Senior Golfers. Over 80 prizes were awarded to the winners. The prize distribution ceremony was followed by a buffet dinner with live Qawali music.

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DUBAI, AUG 29: Dubai’s Emirates airline will provide extra baggage allowance to passengers traveling to crisis-hit Lebanon until September 30, Emirates announced in a press statement on Wednesday.

Travelers will be able to check in an extra ten kilograms as “Lebanon [is] experiencing a severe shortage of essential goods and medicines,” the statement said.

Passengers booking tickets from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Australia will be offered the extra baggage allowance.

An economic crash in October 2019, exacerbated by a massive explosion in Beirut’s port and the COVID-19 crisis, has led to electricity, food, and medical supply shortages in the Mediterranean nation.

Blackouts have swept Lebanon as the fuel oil used to generate electricity has disappeared from the market.

The US is working with the World Bank and the governments of Egypt and Jordan to meet Lebanon’s fuel and energy needs, Washington’s ambassador to Beirut revealed in an interview with Al Arabiya English on Thursday.

Many say living conditions are worse than during the 1975-90 civil war.

Emirates set up a “humanitarian airbridge” with Lebanon following the port explosion in August 2020, which it says helped to deliver 160 tons of medical supplies, food, PPE, and other items.

Lebanon has a large diaspora in the Arabian Gulf and further afield.

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COURTESY alarabiya news

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KABUL, AUG 29: Afghanistan’s two athletes made an “extremely emotional” arrival at the Tokyo Paralympic Village, Games chiefs said Sunday, after a top-secret flight from Paris following their evacuation from Kabul.

“Both athletes are here in Tokyo to fulfil their dreams, sending out a very strong message of hope to many others around the world,” said International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence.

Khudadadi and Rasouli were welcomed to the athletes’ village on Saturday night by IPC chief Andrew Parsons and IPC Athletes’ Council chairperson Chelsey Gotell, as well as the Afghan team’s chef de mission Arian Sadiqi.

“As you can imagine, the meeting was extremely emotional,” said Spence.

“There were lots of tears from everyone in the room. It really was a remarkable meeting.”

The pair spent a week in Paris at a French sports ministry training centre following their evacuation from Kabul.

Sprinter Rasouli was scheduled to compete in the men’s T47 100m but arrived too late for Saturday’s heats.

Instead, he will enter the T47 long jump final on Tuesday, while Khudadadi will compete in the women’s taekwondo K44 -49kg category On Thursday.

“Every day we’ve checked in on primarily their mental health, because as you can imagine, the situation they’ve gone through in the last few days is a serious one,” he said.

Their arrival comes after Afghanistan’s swift fall to the Taliban earlier this month left them among the tens of thousands trapped and unable to leave the country.

At Tuesday’s opening ceremony, the Afghan flag featured in a symbolic fashion, carried by a volunteer.

Spence said the two athletes would not speak to reporters while they were at the Games.

He said organisers wanted to avoid “a selfie-fest” with other athletes taking pictures in the village, but stressed that the pair would be allowed to mingle.

“We’re not saying ‘you shouldn’t just stay in your apartments and not go out’,” he said.

“We’re saying, once you’ve gone through your three-day quarantine, you need to fulfil this experience of being at the athletes’ village’.”

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have promised a softer brand of rule compared with their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

But many Afghans fear a repeat of their brutal interpretation of Islamic law.

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ISLAMABAD, AUG 29: Facebook-owned WhatsApp has sent an update that indicates the messaging app will no longer work on several Android and Apple phones except the compatible smartphones from November 1.

The mobile devices on the list will no longer receive support from the application and will be incompatible with WhatsApp . This in order to focus its efforts on the latest generation smartphones, to guarantee an optimal service of the app.

In general, the affected devices will be those with an operating system equal to or lower than Android 4.0.3 . Or, in the case of iPhone , devices with iOS 9 and earlier . That is to say, practically obsolete equipment that since they do not have the capacity to support the updates.

Here is the complete list of smartphones that will be left without WhatsApp:

Android

• Samsung: Galaxy Trend Lite, Galaxy Trend II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy S3 mini, Galaxy Xcover 2, Galaxy Core and Galaxy Ace 2.
• LG: Lucid 2, Optimus F7, Optimus F5, Optimus L3 II Dual, Optimus F5, Optimus L5, Optimus L5 II, Optimus L5 Dual, Optimus L3 II, Optimus L7, Optimus L7 II Dual, Optimus L7 II, Optimus F6, Enact , Optimus L4 II Dual, Optimus F3, Optimus L4 II, Optimus L2 II, Optimus Nitro HD and 4X HD, and Optimus F3Q.
• ZTE: Grand S Flex, ZTE V956, Grand X Quad V987 and Grand Memo.
• Huawei: Ascend G740, Ascend Mate, Ascend D Quad XL, Ascend D1 Quad XL, Ascend P1 S, and Ascend D2.
• Sony: Xperia Miro, Sony Xperia Neo L, Xperia Arc S.
• Alcatel: One Touch Evo 7
• Others: Archos 53 Platinum, HTC Desire 500, Caterpillar Cat B15, Wiko Cink Five, Wiko Darknight, Lenovo A820, UMi X2, Faea F1 and THL W8.

ios

• Apple iPhone SE
• Apple iPhone 6S
• Apple iPhone 6S Plus

Although WhatsApp will no longer support the listed teams, that does not mean that the app will stop working immediately.

What if I have one of these smartphones?

WhatsApp suggests changing to a more recent device model to continue using the messaging app and avoid massive account closure.

Otherwise, users will no longer be able to enjoy the functions of the application. This would include the impossibility of connecting to WhatsApp Web since to enter the platform it requests to scan a QR code from the app downloaded on the cell phone, which could no longer be viewed in some cases.

The good news is that closed accounts can be re-enabled with the same phone number, as soon as the user downloads WhatsApp and enters from a more current device that does meet the new requirements.

Another option would be to bet on another messaging platform, such as Telegram, Signal or Facebook’s Messenger.

If you fear that the app will stop working on your mobile device, you should create a backup to save your chat history before November 1. Just follow these steps:

1. Open WhatsApp and enter the menu of the 3 dots in the upper right corner.
2. Go to ‘Settings’ and then select ‘Chats’.
3. Click on ‘Chat Backup’ and then click on ‘Backup’.

IN the last few weeks there have been several articles in the media worldwide on how the present state of affairs was arrived at in Afghanistan. 

Not one has touched, except cursorily, on what should be the principal question: how the architect and executor of 9/11, Osama bin Laden got to Afghanistan in 1996 in a chartered flight, carrying vast sums of money derived from his business activities in Sudan. And then, how, after 9/11 a beleaguered OBL, trapped in Tora Bora and surrounded by US forces escaped because the US military decided to entrust the shutting off of the escape route to Hazrat Ali and his cohorts from Jalalabad rather than letting US forces do what they were fully capable of doing.

Letting OBL move to Afghanistan, the one place where he was much admired for his role in the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation was folly compounded by letting him escape from Tora Bora after 9/11.

Admittedly, in 1996 the US had no relations with Sudan but even the somewhat edited Wikipedia biography of OBL states that at that time (1996) the Sudanese had offered to transfer him to the US authorities or to Saudi Arabia. 

The Saudi rejection of the Sudanese offer was probably heavily influenced by the position the Bin Laden family had in Saudi Arabia. Was the US position also determined by the Bin Laden family’s association with American politicians? After OBL’s 2011 killing, the meticulous records he kept were all seized by the American SEALs, who carried out the attack on his Abbottabad house. 

Surely these records must have shown how his exit from Sudan in 1996 was arranged and how he escaped from Tora Bora post 9/11. The media should have made every effort through the freedom of information legislation to secure access to these papers. If it had not done so earlier it should do so now.

On a personal note, having learnt from newspaper reports of OBL’s arrival in Afghanistan I, as foreign secretary, asked our intelligence agencies to keep a sharp eye on his activities since they would not be in Pakistan’s interest.

As regards the emergence of the Taliban, again a personal note. The Americans having secured the withdrawal of the Soviet troops and the consequent disintegration of the Soviet Union left it to Pakistan to cope with the detritus of the war and the infighting among the mujahideen. America’s status as sole superpower had been confirmed and Pakistan’s pleas notwithstanding, they wanted nothing further to do with Afghanistan. For Pakistan they only wanted to and did impose sanctions because of our nuclear programme which they were well aware of and had turned a blind eye towards while the Soviets were in Afghanistan.

The media should have made every effort to secure access to OBL’s meticulous records.

The Taliban who emerged from the madressah in Kandahar were largely foot soldiers in the Nabi Muhammadi Mujahideen group. They had no officers among them. They were outraged by the crimes committed by these warlords, the last trigger being the killing of a young boy who had been sodomised by these predators. They were no doubt encouraged by the transporters but they emerged both because of this and because of the turmoil in all of Afghanistan occasioned by the infighting among mujahideen factions.

Late Maj-Gen Naseerullah Babar was a figure I long admired for his valour in the 1965 war and perhaps even more for bringing together in Peshawar all opponents (not just Tajiks) of the Sardar Daud regime in Kabul.

While this was yeoman work for Pakistan one must also state clearly that Naseerullah Babar did not create the Taliban nor did they, as Mullah Omar told me, even know who he was. They were followers of the Karachi-based Jamia Yusufia Binoria but to me this too seemed to be only token. Their base of support was, by my reckoning, expatriate Afghans and Saudi private philanthropists. They conquered virtually all of Afghanistan holding the Holy Quran in one hand and dollars in the other.

Pakistan did not create the Taliban. Our strategists climbed on the bandwagon but in this they were not alone. To the extent that American interest was aroused, they too supported the emergence of the Taliban as a force that was bringing peace to Afghanistan.

All this is of course a repetition of what Afghan watchers had long seen developing but does it help the stage for what to expect now?

One watched with horror the suicide attacks outside the Hamid Karzai airport that resulted in 13 US troops being killed along with several Taliban and ordinary Afghans. This was clearly a Daesh [IS] Khorasan chapter operation as claimed by the group. Would it lead to the Taliban agreeing to extend the deadline for the airport to be vacated?

My assessment was that the Taliban were eager to end the evacuation and keep as many Afghans and their expertise in Afghanistan so that they would have a pool of trained personnel to help govern the country. This was based on my assessment that the Taliban leaders are genuinely committed to reconciliation; whether this applies to all Taliban and whether the leadership can enforce this remains an open question.

One takes heart from the fact that this time no ceasefire was suggested by the Taliban for Eidul Fitr. Was this because even the most conservative among the Taliban were tired of war and the bonhomie that prevailed during the last such ceasefire may have caused the leadership to believe that a ceasefire would erode the fighting spirit at a time when it could ill afford it?

Perhaps one is being too optimistic but it behoves the US to forget the lessons of Vietnam where it took the US 20 years (1975-95) to re-establish relations with Vietnam or of Iran where the settlement process seems stalled and recognise that the stability of the region requires a more generous approach and a less suspicious view of what the Taliban represent.

Make no mistake. Russia, China, India and even Pakistan — the chosen scapegoat and home to fantasy creators — may want to play a part, but the decisive player is the US.

The writer is a former foreign secretary.

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