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Mojaddedi is the head and founder of a group known as the National Liberation
Front of Afghanistan (Jabha-e Melli-ye Nijat-e Afghanistan). Mojaddedi
also served as the first President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan
after the Communists were defeated and a Mujahideen government was setup in
1992. In December 2003, he served as the
chairman of the Loya Jirga that approved Afghanistan's new constitution.
On March 16, 2005, President Karzai appointed Mojaddedi
as the chairman of the Afghan National Commission for Peace in Afghanistan. The commission's objective is
to promote reconciliation. In a press conference held on May 9, 2005 in Kabul, Mojaddedi announced that
participation in the reconciliation process is open to all Afghans, including
Mullah Omar (head of the Taliban)
and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Both Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar
are on the US most wanted list. Mojaddedi's announcement contradicted President Hamid Karzai's earlier
statements that those whose hands are
red with the blood of innocent Afghans, including Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar, would be excluded from
the reconciliation process. President Karzai distanced himself from Mojaddedi's remarks,
and a US military spokesman cast doubt on Mojaddedi's assertion that the commission was
authorized to offer a general amnesty to such figures as Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar.
On May 11th, Mojaddedi retracted his statement. He claimed that his remarks were misconstrued by
the media,
and that it was up to the Afghan nation to pardon or punish Mullah Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
Mojaddedi was quoted as saying:
"If they accept Afghanistan's new basic law and give up fighting, they may be forgiven.
But personally speaking, I can't let them off them because I don't have the right."
More about Sibghatullah Mojaddedi
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