Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil - Defected From The Taliban?

Defected From The Taliban?

In October 2001, the month following al Qaeda's attacks in the USA, Muttawakil was reported to be in Pakistan. According to the BBC some rumors said he was trying to negotiate an end to the American aerial bombardment of Afghanistan; that he was suggesting the Taliban hand over Bin Laden. Muttawakil was reported to have had a 90 minute meeting with Lieutenant General Ehsan ul Haq, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate. He was rumored to have asked General Haq to lobby United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, that an American ceasefire would allow moderate elements within the Taliban, like Muttawakil, to push Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar to abandon Bin Laden. On Monday October 15, 2001, it was reported that Muttawakil had arrived in the United Arab Emirates in order to defect from the Taliban. UAE officials denied this report.