Khairullah Khairkhwa

Mullah
Khairullah Khairkhwa
خیرالله خیرخواه
Khairkhwa in 2020
Minister of Information and Culture
Acting
Assumed office
7 September 2021
Supreme LeaderHibatullah Akhundzada
Prime MinisterHasan Akhund (acting)
Minister of Interior Affairs
In office
c. 1997–c. 1998
Prime MinisterMohammad Rabbani
LeaderMohammed Omar
Preceded byQari Ahmadullah
Succeeded byAbdur Razzaq Akhundzada
Governor of Herat
In office
March 2001 – October 2001
Prime MinisterMohammad Rabbani
LeaderMohammed Omar
Spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
In office
c. 1995–c. 1996
Prime MinisterMohammad Rabbani
Abdul Kabir
LeaderMohammed Omar
Personal details
Born1967 (age 56–57)[1]
Kandahar, Afghanistan
Political party Taliban
OccupationPolitician, Taliban member

Khairullah Said Wali Khairkhwa (Pashto: خیرالله سید ولي خیرخواه [xairʊˈlɑ saˈjɪd waˈli xairˈxwɑ]; born 1967) is a member of the militant Taliban organization currently in control of Afghanistan, who has previously been called one of the "moderate" Taliban.[2][3] He is the Taliban Minister of Information and Culture and a former Minister of the Interior. After the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, he was held at the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camp in Cuba[4] for 12 years. He was released in late May 2014 in a prisoner exchange that involved Bowe Bergdahl and the Taliban five.[5] Press reports have referred to him as "Mullah" and "Maulavi", two different honorifics for referring to senior Muslim clerics.[6][7][8][9]

Claims from analysts at Guantanamo that Khairkhwa was directly associated with Osama bin Laden and Taliban Supreme Commander Mullah Muhammad Omar have been widely repeated.[10] Kate Clark has criticized her fellow journalists for uncritically repeating U.S. claims that were largely based on unsubstantiated rumor and innuendo, or on confessions and denunciations coerced through torture and other extreme interrogation techniques.[11]

  1. ^ https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/82290-isn-579-khirullah-said-wali-khairkhwa-jtf-gtmo/15ea7dcb2f3a3d9f/full.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference AlJazeera2012-03-14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "List of Individuals Detained by the Department of Defense at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from January 2002 through May 15, 2006". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved 2006-05-15.
  5. ^ Dorell, Oren (May 31, 2014). "U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl freed in Afghanistan". USA Today. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  6. ^ Tayler, Letta (December 31, 2001). "Blood Feud in Afghanistan". The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Afghanistan's Taliban, opposition both claim gains". CNN. July 31, 1997. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  8. ^ Klasra, Kaswar (January 26, 2010). "UN seeks to drop some Taliban leaders". The Nation. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  9. ^ "Eight dead in Afghan blast". BBC News. May 4, 2001. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  10. ^ Eyder Peralta (31 May 2014). "Who Are The 5 Guantanamo Detainees In Prisoner Swap? – Nation & World News". www.wuft.org. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Aan2012-03-09 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).