Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban co-founder and now deputy prime minister of Afghanistan has been named among the “100 Most Influential People” of 2021 by Time magazine.
Baradar’s profile for Time’s rundown, written by veteran writer Ahmed Rashid, noted that he “is revered” among the Afghan Taliban as the founding member, “a charismatic military leader and a deeply pious figure”.
It said that when the Taliban assumed control over the Afghan capital in August, it was on the terms negotiated by Baradar, which included amnesties offered, the absence of bloodshed on seizing power and contacts and visits with neighboring states like Pakistan and China.
“A quiet, secretive man who rarely gives public statements or interviews, Baradar nonetheless represents a more moderate current within the Taliban, the one that will be thrust into the limelight to win Western support and desperately needed financial aid. The question is whether the man who coaxed the Americans out of Afghanistan can sway his own movement,” the profile said.
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Baradar was once a dear companion of the movement’s reclusive first leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who gave him his nom de guerre, “Baradar” or “brother”.
Following the fall of the Taliban government in 2001, Baradar served as a senior military commander liable for attacks on alliance forces, a UN sanction notice said.
In 2010, he was arrested and imprisoned in Pakistan. After his release in 2018, he headed the Taliban’s political office in Doha, becoming one of the most conspicuous figures in peace talks with the United States.
Baradar is the first Taliban leader to make it to the list, albeit the publication has made no such mention in its write-up. The list can be viewed here.
In 2004, Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was included in the list, with the magazine mentioning that he “galvanized disparate organizations in dozens of countries into one network, sharing a vision, logistics, and Afghan training camps”.
“The malcontented son of a wealthy Saudi construction magnate, bin Laden found meaning in the Afghan war,” wrote Richard Clarke, the former head of counterterrorism for America’s National Security Council.
Other personalities featured in the 2021 list
This year’s list also included Afghan women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former US President Donald Trump, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
In the list in 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan was included, while Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai has been featured twice, in 2013 and 2015.
