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Episode details

World Service,08 Sep 2021,26 mins

Available for over a year

Founding member, ambassador, prisoner – in the Taliban’s inner circle at the very start. Abdul Salam Zaeef rose to prominence in the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan until Western forces overthrew it following 9/11. Handed over to the Americans, Mullah Zaeef spent three years as a prisoner in the US detention centre, Guantanamo Bay. He no longer holds an official post in the Taliban, but he despises the democracy that has been built in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. He tells Lyse Doucet that Afghanistan needs a proper Islamic government. Series music composed by Arson Fahim

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