Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

Volte-Face
Some Taliban sources later associated the decision to blow up
Afghanistan’s ancient Buddhist statues with the growing influence
of bin Laden. The military commanders who supported the decision
were believed to have strong links with the al-Qaeda leader. They
had fought together against the Soviet forces and that bond was
further strengthened over the years during his stay in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s growing dependence on Arab fighters who, along with
Pakistanis, constituted the most crucial part of its war machinery had
caused an increase in bin Laden’s influence. The terrorist training
camp funded by him had expanded with new recruits from across
the Islamic world. Many of those trained there were assigned to the
55 th Brigade, a unit bin Laden had created to help the Taliban fight its
Afghan opponents.
General Mahmood arrived in Kandahar on 17 September 2001 and
met with Mullah Omar without any aides. A senior Pakistani foreign
ministry official who accompanied the ISI chief said he was surprised
when the ISI chief asked him to stay outside and insisted on meeting
the Taliban supreme leader alone. No one knew what transpired in
the meeting, but he reported back to General Musharraf that ‘he was
encouraged by Mullah Omar’s response.’ General Musharraf said that
Mullah Omar seemed to show ‘a little bit of flexibility’. 23 . The flexibility
Mullah Omar had indicated was not enough to meet the American
demand of surrendering bin Laden. He had only agreed to form a court
comprising Islamic religious scholars to try him, provided America
was prepared to present evidence of his involvement in the terrorist
attacks. But the trial never took place.
A few days later, General Mahmood sent a delegation of religious
scholars to Mullah Omar. Interestingly, the delegation comprised
hardline pro-Taliban clerics headed by Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai,
who later issued a fatwa (religious edict) for jihad against the Americanled
coalition forces. While he himself led violent protests against the
Musharraf government, one of his sons went to Afghanistan to fight
on behalf of the Taliban. There was a strong suspicion that the ISI
chief may have been involved in deception. Some officials suggest
that he had told Mullah Omar to remain steadfast and not to succumb
to American pressure. 24
As Pakistan’s desperate diplomatic efforts failed to make Mullah
Omar change his mind, by the end of September American forces were
making final preparations to launch an attack on Afghanistan. They
had already acquired three air bases in Pakistan close to Afghanistan