Ahmed Muttawakil

From 9/11 Encyclopedia:

On September 7th, 2002 the UK Independent revealed, that only a few weeks before the attacks on 11 September, the United States and the United Nations ignored warnings from a secret Taliban emissary that Osama bin Laden was planning a huge attack on American soil. The warnings were delivered by an aide of Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban Foreign Minister at the time. (NOTE: This close "aide" could have been: -Khairula Khairkhwa, the former Taliban governor of the western province of Herat -Sharqawi Abdu Ali al-Hajj, described as an al Qaeda "facilitator" -former Taliban Information Ministry official Abdul Henan Himet -Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper -Taliban official, Amir Khan Muttaqi -Maulvi Abdul Kabir, former Taliban deputy prime minister -Fazul Rabi Said-Rahman, who was a Taleban corps commander -Amir Khan Muttaqi,Taliban official -Obeidullah, an assistant to the intelligence chief, Qari Ahmadullah and former top-ranker in Kabul, who escaped to Pakistan -Abdul Salam Zaeef, The Taliban's ambassador to Pakistan www.j-n-v.org/ARROW_aw_briefings/ARROW_briefing005.htm Head of intelligence under the Taliban, Qari Ahmadullah was killed on January 1st, 2002, confirmed by Abdullah Tawheedi, a deputy head of intelligence in the interim administration. www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/01/02/ret.taliban.intelligence/

"...Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil met officials from the CIA and Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency. ('US officials... appear to have dismissed the proposal. Instead they are hoping to engineer a split within the Taliban leadership.') (Guardian, 17 Oct., p. 1) ..." Muttawakil was in american custody in 2002,when this important detail made news. The emissary went first to the Americans, travelling across the border to meet the consul general, David Katz, in the Pakistani border town of Peshawar, in the third week of July 2001. They met in a safehouse belonging to an old mujahedin leader who has confirmed to The Independent that the meeting took place. Another US official was present, possibly from the intelligence services. Mr Katz, who now works at the American embassy in Eritrea, declined to talk about the meeting...." Due to the list of the Pakistan US Embassy Officials, the following people might have known about this warning: Ambassador--William B. Milam Deputy Chief of Mission--Michele J. Sison Defense Attache--Col. Herb Stoddard Defense Representative--Col. Tod Wilson Already confirmed: Principal Officer, Peshawar--David Katz NOTE: Muttawakil was in deep contact with US Congress-member Dana Rohrabacher (->), who learned on some warnings. After he heard that the Northern Alliance Commander Massoud (->) was killed, he tried to get an appointment with the US State Department, but they postponed a meeting until September 11 2001, 2 PM. www.virtualsources.com/Countries/Middle%20East%20Countries/Pakistan.htm Muttawakil, was a close ally of the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar (->) The U.S. State Department confirmed, that they issued an alert in June 2001, which was reported by AP:

"...A close aide to Osama bin Laden denied that followers of the suspected terrorist plan strikes against U.S. and Israeli interests in the coming weeks, the Taliban news agency said Monday. Bin Laden deputy Abu Hafas told the Bakhtar news agency that no remarks on imminent attacks were made by bin Laden's aides and that no attacks were planned as a media report over the weekend stated... ...Two days earlier, the U.S. State Department issued an alert, saying that American citizens may be the target of a terrorist threat from extremist groups with links to bin Laden and his Al-Qaida organization. .." Source: www.afghan-info.com/News/June2001_News.htm

National Security Council's counterterrorism coordinator in June 2001 was Richard Clarke, who only said some weeks later after the Taliban warning during a White House meeting: "something spectacular is going to happen." npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/may/timeline/ Clarke was chief of the CSG (Counter-terrorism Security Group), who knew about all warnings about an attack AND the war plans on the Taliban! The met in 2001 every week in the White House Situation Room, then since July 2001 daily! Intelligence had been streaming in concerning a likely Al Qaeda attack. "It all came together in the third week in June," Clarke said. "The C.I.A.'s view was that a major terrorist attack was coming in the next several weeks." http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8802-2002Jan19 As MSNBC confirmed, on May 23rd 2001, Richard Clarke reacted first: "...As a precaution, however, the National Security Council's counterterrorism coordinator, Richard Clarke, advised the FAA to issue a warning about the hijacking threat, which resulted in the June 22 warning, officials said...." On June 29, 2001, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan William B. Milam, who heard about all the warnings of a "major attack on U.S. interests", tried[b] to get in touch with the Taliban Ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef[/b] in Pakistan. Richard Clarke heard about this planned meeting by telephone, "conveyed the same message to intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates". http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A8802-2002Jan19 "On July 5th, 2001 Richard Clarke convened a White House meeting of the Counterterrorism Security Group; then met with Rice and Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card; then met again with CSG plus, Federal Aviation Administration, FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service. Clarke told them: "something spectacular is going to happen." npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/may/timeline/ (National Press Review) During the anniversary week of September 11th, the unknown AP-"Taliban-warning" from June 2001 was apparently leaked to the press again, but downplayed and overshadowed by other events:

"...A State Department official, asked about the newspaper story, reiterated previous government statements that the United States last summer was aware of reports that al Qaeda might be preparing an attack. "We took all warnings very seriously," issuing public announcements, travel warnings and cautions during that period that attempted to alert the public to these threats, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity..."

www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07388428 The BBC picked up the story: Taleban 'warned US of huge attack' BBC, 9/7/02 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2242594.stm "...He went first to the American consulate in Peshawar in Pakistan, then to the United Nations. But neither warning was heeded. One US official explained why: "We were hearing a lot of that kind of stuff," he said..."

"That kind of stuff" was repeated by 10 other secret service agencies during June and September 2001. The US government claims, the September 11th attack happened because of "incompetence"> (-> early warnings)

Taliban urged to talk to Afghan government
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
ISLAMABAD -- A former foreign minister for the ousted Taliban militia called on his former
comrades to hold talks with the U.S.-backed Afghan government and criticized Osama bin Laden for never caring for his host country.
"I ask the Taliban to hold talks with the Afghan government. It will be good for our people," Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said in an interview carried by the Khyber news channel.
Muttawakil, considered a relative moderate, surrendered to U.S. forces in the southern city of Kandahar in 2003. He was held by the U.S. military at its main base in Bagram, north of Kabul. He was later freed, although his whereabouts have remained a mystery.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_330341.html

Brother of ex-Taliban Minister Killed in Pakistan
UETTA, Pakistan - The brother of a former Taliban foreign minister was killed by a stray bullet during a clash in a Pakistani city where he was a Muslim cleric, Pakistani officials said on Monday. Former Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil has rejoined Afghan politics after being imprisoned by U.S. forces and is running in Afghanistan's September parliamentary election. Pakistani security officials said his younger brother's killing in the western city of Quetta was not political.
The brother, Maulvi Jalil Ahmed, was caught in crossfire when a neighborhood dispute erupted in gunfire on Sunday, police said.
"An incident occurred between two groups last night, we also know that a passer-by, who has been identified as Jalil Ahmed, was caught in crossfire," said Quetta police superintendent Pervez Zahoor.
Other security officials said Ahmed was Muttawakil's brother.
A policeman and an intelligence official said Ahmed had been living in Pakistan as a refugee for years.
He had been a Maulvi, or Muslim cleric, in the neighborhood for six years, the police officer said. Quetta, near the border with troubled southern Afghanistan, has long been a hotbed of Afghan political rivalry where, over the years, disputes have often sparked clashes and assassinations. The intelligence official, who declined to be identified, said the firing on a city road was between rival transport operators.
The policeman said it had been a dispute between youngsters that got out of control. Both said Ahmed was not involved in politics.
Muttawakil, who was always seen by political analysts as a Taliban moderate, is one of several former
group officials who have been involved in reconciliation talks with the U.S.-backed government in Kabul this year. His old comrades in the Taliban have denounced all talk of reconciliation and have vowed to press on with their jihad, or holy war, against U.S. and the Afghan government forces. Taliban fighters have been involved in a wave of attacks since the spring in March.
Hundreds of insurgents, Afghan soldiers and police as well as more than 30 members of a U.S.-led force of about 20,000 have been killed. Muttawakil was detained by U.S. forces after the ouster of the Taliban government in 2001 and released two years later. He has been living in Afghanistan since then. He was not immediately available for comment.

Ex-Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil shakes hands with Ruud Lubbers (R),
then-UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shakes hands with, 03 May 2001
at the Foreign Ministry in Kabul, Afghanistan. (B. K. Bangash/AFP/Getty Images)

Former Taliban foreign minister released
A moderate, he has offered to aid Afghan government
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Taliban's former foreign minister has been released from U.S. military custody and is living at his home in this southern Afghan city, the spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province said Saturday. Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil was released 10 days ago and is in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, said Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for Gov. Mohammed Yusuf Pashtun. Muttawakil's precise whereabouts weren't known and the circumstances of his release weren't clear. -
- Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil is shown in this photo dated September 2001.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/25/taliban.release.ap/