Rabbani calls for jirga to form Ulema Commission (NNI, FEB 20)

ISLAMABAD: Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani Thursday called for a jirga sitting to solve the formation of Ulema Commission.

The Taliban had proposed formation of an Ulema Commission to solve the infighting in Afghanistan. All the factions were asked to send the lists their representative Ulema.

But the Taliban rejected the list send by Northern Alliance. The student militia said majority of Ulema nominated in the list were not prominent and did not belong to religious schools of Afghanistan.

In an interview with BBC, Rabbani said, "We nominated prominent lemma from all provinces of Afghanistan. Majority of them are elderly teachers at various madaras."

He said the Ulema nominated by Northern Alliance took part in the crusade against the Soviet occupation. "We nominated persons whose integrity and devotion for the country cannot be challenged."

Rabbani said a jirga should be established comprising all leaders of Afghanistan. "The meetings of the jirga should be held with the support of United Nations and OIC for solving the conflict."

Meanwhile Asif Mohseni, chief of Harkat-e-Islami Afghanistan, has said the Taliban rejected the list because, "they have no intention of starting negotiations. They think they can forcibly capture the entire Afghanistan and administer it by force."

When asked about why the Taliban put forward the constitution of Ulema commission, he said, "they might have done under the pressure of another state."-