Afghan Taliban want peace

Mullah Baradar

A veteran Taliban leader claims that a majority of Afghan insurgents want to negotiate a peace deal but says their views have been suppressed by hardliners controlling the movement's propaganda machine.
Meanwhile, Pakistan released former Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a man Afghanistan believes could help tempt moderate Taliban leaders to the negotiating table and bring peace after more than a decade of war.
Pakistan's foreign ministry announced late on Friday Baradar - one of the founders of the Taliban insurgency - would be released a day later, and yesterday, Pakistani television reported Baradar had been set free.
Baradar is at the heart of Afghan efforts to kick-start a stalled peace process as US- led troops prepare to pull out at the end of next year and anxiety grows over the country's security.
Baradar was once a close friend of the reclusive Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who gave him his nom de guerre, "Baradar" or "brother".
In a rare interview, Agha Jan Motasim, who was finance minister in the Taliban regime, said statements issued in recent years in the name of the insurgent leader Mullah Omar have not reflected the fugitive cleric's true views.
"Unfortunately there are hardliners and extremists in the movement who use his name. There are warmongers who have taken over his name and are putting out their own message with it," Motasim told the Guardian.
There have been no verified recordings or sightings of Omar since his government fell and he fled to Pakistan in 2001. There has also been speculation that the one-eyed former village cleric had died.
According to Motasim, Omar is alive but has lost control of the Taliban's public statements and communications with the outside world because his life on the run from the threat of drone attacks .