PESHAWAR: The Taliban have appointed five former commanders who spent more than a decade as prisoners in Guantanamo Bay as members of the political office in Qatar where they will take part in any future peace talks, officials in the movement said.
The five commanders, Mohammad Fazl, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Noorullah Noori, were held for 12 years in the US detention center before being released in 2012 as part of a prisoner exchange in return for US soldier Berg Bergdahl.
They were settled in Qatar following their release but until now had not been directly involved in political activities, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said.
The appointments were made as momentum gathers for talks to end 17 years of war in Afghanistan.
Qatar has emerged as a principal contact point between the Taliban and the US government. Earlier this month, Taliban officials met the recently appointed US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Qatari capital Doha, having already met Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, there earlier in the year.
A Taliban official in Qatar said that while the former commanders, who were close to the movement’s late founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, had not been attached to the political office earlier, but the office has sought their opinions and advice in the past.
“They have been contributing to certain important matters in their private capacity. Now they are officially declared as members of the Qatar-based political council and would represent Taliban movement in peace talks with the foreign leaders,” said a member of the Taliban political office in Qatar.
Requesting anonymity, the official said the five Taliban leaders had been subject to restrictions on movement earlier, but they would now be able to travel and attend peace negotiations.
The appointments follow the release by Pakistan last week of senior Taliban figure Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Taliban assign ex-Guantanamo inmates as future peace brokers
Taliban assign ex-Guantanamo inmates as future peace brokers
Pakistan mulls 'Super App' for public services, document verification in major technology push
- Pakistan has been urging technology adoption in public, private sectors as it seeks to become a key tech player globally
- The country this month launched the Indus AI Week to harness technology for productivity, skills development and innovation
KARACHI: Pakistan is planning to launch a “Super App” to deliver public services and enable digital document verification, the country's information technology (IT) minister said on Sunday, amid a major push for technology adoption in public and private sectors.
Pakistan, a country of 240 million people, seeks to become a key participant in the global tech economy, amid growing interest from governments in the Global South to harness advanced technologies for productivity, skills development and innovation.
The country's information and communications technology (ICT) exports hit a record $437 million in Dec. last year, according to IT Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja. This constituted a 23% increase month on month and a 26% increase year on year.
Pakistan's technology sector is also advancing in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, marked by the launch of Pakistan’s first sovereign AI cloud in November, designed to keep sensitive data domestic and support growth in the broader digital ecosystem.
“In developed countries, citizens can access all government services from a mobile phone,” Fatima said, announcing plans for the Super App at an event in Karachi where more than 7,000 students had gathered for an AI training entrance test as part of the ‘Indus AI Week.’
“We will strive to provide similar facilities in the coming years.”
Khawaja said the app will reduce the need for in-person visits to government offices such as the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and the Higher Education Commission (HEC).
The Indus AI Week initiative, which ran from Feb. 9 till Feb. 15. was aimed at positioning Pakistan as a key future participant in the global AI revolution, according to the IT minister.
At the opening of the weeklong initiative, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Pakistan would invest $1 billion in AI by 2030 to modernize the South Asian nation’s digital economy.
“These initiatives aim to strengthen national AI infrastructure and make the best use of our human resource,” Khawaja said, urging young Pakistanis to become creators, inventors and innovators rather than just being the consumers of technology.
