Thursday, May 19, 2005
Muttawakil to contest Afghan polls
KANDAHAR: A former Foreign Minister for the ousted Taliban regime said on Wednesday he has enrolled as a candidate to run in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections in September. Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, considered a relative moderate, surrendered to U.S. forces in the southern city of Kandahar in 2003. He was held by the U.S. military at its main base in Bagram, north of Kabul, and later under house arrest in Kabul, before being freed.
"I am an Afghan and I have the right to be an independent candidate," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "I am doing this for the sake of the people of Afghanistan. If I win, I will work for the peace and development of Afghanistan."
When asked if he had any ties still with the Taliban, who have been blamed for scores of attacks on U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, Mr. Muttawakil said: "The Taliban are also Afghans. The public must decide who they want as their leaders, whether it's the Taliban or someone else."
He said he registered as a candidate in Kandahar and would compete to represent the former Taliban stronghold in the new 249-seat legislature. The head of the joint U.N.-Afghan election commission said he could not confirm that Mr. Muttawakil had enrolled. — AP
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