An unidentified attacker on Tuesday killed the leader of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, a Former President of the country whose main responsibility was to negotiate a political end to the war with the Taliban. The assassination has caused a serious blow to any notion of reconciliation with the Taliban.
Afghan officials said that the Peace Council leader, Former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, was killed by a suicide bomber near his heavily guarded home in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The assassination coincided with President Hamid Karzai's visit to the United Nations General Assembly, where he was scheduled to confer with President Obama about the war. A spokesman for Karzai said that he would cut short his trip to return home.
Afghan officials said that at least three other people were wounded in the attack. Minsters of the Afghan government raced to the scene and the streets were closed off near Mr. Rabbani's home.
Shukria Barakzai, one of the few female members of the legislature, started crying as she spoke to the newspaper reporters. One of the member of the parliament on the defense committee said that this is not good for the peace process.
Reuters quoted Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a police spokesman in Kabul said the killer was probably a suicide attacker.
Mr. Rabbani, who once led a powerful resistance group during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's was President in the 1990's following the Soviet withdrawal.
He was killed a week after Taliban insurgents orchestrated a surprise attack on sveral Kabul neighborhoods that demonstrated the seeming ease with which they can strike despite ambitious efforts by the American-led NATO forces hereto improve security and to persuade the Taliban insurgents to engage in negotiations to end the war.
News reported by AR
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