Former Afghan President and Peace Negotiator Killed

Posted on Sep 20, 2011

Flickr / isafmedia (CC-BY)

Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani was killed in his home Tuesday when a suicide bomber he thought was there to talk peace instead detonated a bomb hidden in his turban.

Rabbani had been in charge of negotiating peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and officials are calling his death a serious setback in efforts to find a political solution to the 10-year-old war.

A senior official, Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai, who had been present for the expected negotiations, was injured during the attack. So far no one has claimed responsibility for it. The Taliban could not be reached for comment. —BF

The Wall Street Journal:

The Afghan government has struggled to bring insurgents to the negotiating table over the last year, with no apparent success. The attack was seen by some Afghan and U.S. officials as an indication of the insurgency’s unwillingness to talk to the government, despite reports that some senior Taliban are seeking a peace deal.

No group took responsibility for the attack. The Taliban couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

President Hamid Karzai cut short a trip this week to the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly, where he met President Barack Obama on Tuesday. He said he would return to Kabul early because of Mr. Rabbani’s death.

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