TALIBAN:
The #Taliban overthrew the Rabbani government in September 1996. #Hekmatyar fled to northern #Afghanistan. Unwilling to join forces with his old rival #Massoud, he made plans to evacuate to #Iran. 1/8
@FazelQazizai

He moved to #Tehran in 1997, eventually settling with his family in a four-storey villa in the wealthy neighbourhood of #Niavaran. For the first time in decades he had little political relevance inside #Afghanistan. Angry and frustrated, he spent his time reading, 2/8

writing and issuing inflammatory statements against his long list of enemies: the #Taliban, the #NorthernAlliance, Afghanistan’s former king, Russia, Pakistan and America. #Osama remained in #Afghanistan as a guest of the Taliban regime. 3/8

His relationship with #MullahOmar’s govt was far from straightforward, however. D #Taliban leadership was focused on consolidating power in Afghanistan and saw no reason to provoke America. In contrast, Hekmatyar’s internationalist view of #jihad aligned with bin Laden’s. 4/8

In early 2000 bin Laden asked for #Hekmatyar’s help. He told him a major operation against the US was in the works but withheld the exact details of the 9/11 plot. Anticipating a US backlash, he wanted #Hekmatyar to find him shelter. 5/8

#Hekmatyar advised him not to seek refuge in #Iran but suggested #Iraq might be a viable option. In the spring of 2000 Hekmatyar travelled to #Baghdad to discuss bin Laden’s request with the Iraqi president #SaddamHussein. #Saddam rejected the proposal. 6/8

On 9 September 2001 a pair of Al-Qaeda assassins disguised as journalists killed #Massoud in northern #Afghanistan. Two days later #AlQaeda attacked the World Trade Centre and #Pentagon. 7/8

#Hekmatyar had always dreamed of waging war against #America. Now, more than thirty years after the Muslim Youth’s formation, his dream had finally come true. 8/8
@FazelQazizai