Taliban agrees to peaceful handover of Kandahar

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), castigated by American and British warmongers as the mouthpiece of the Taliban, has reported that the Islamic militia has agreed to surrender its last urban stronghold to the country’s new leader.

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has reportedly agreed to hand over Kandahar to Pashtun warlord Hamid Karzai, who has been laying siege to the city for the past few weeks.

AIP said the deal was agreed at a meeting of religious scholars and tribal leaders and will be implemented in the coming days.

There have been reports for the past number of days that Mr Karzai has accepted a deal with Mullah Omar that will see Kandahar peacefully handed over to the local tribes.

In exchange, Omar has reportedly received a guarantee that he will not be killed or prosecuted. If this is true, it casts doubt on whether the handover of Kandahar will go ahead.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has already stated that the US will not support any amnesty for Mullah Omar and is intent on killing the Taliban leader, either in combat or in front of a US army firing squad.