Mullah Dadullah fired for meeting with Brit diplos?
You can see where this could get Mullah Omar's turban in a knot, no?
Expelled British Envoys tried to win over Taliban
A report in Sunday Times said the two British diplomats expelled from Afghanistan over the Christmas holiday were trying to win over a senior Taliban commander.
The paper quoting Afghan government sources said they held secret meetings with Mansoor Dadullah described as a thorn in the side of British military in Helmand province - to try to persuade him to break with the Taliban and form his own political party and militia.
“If they had succeeded it would have been a coup for the western allies shoring up the government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul,” the paper wrote.
Instead, Mervyn Patterson, a high-ranking UN official, and Michael Semple, the acting head of the EU mission to Afghanistan, were expelled after an Afghan national “confessed” to Afghan intelligence that he had accompanied the two to a secret meeting with Dadullah in Musa Qala.
Days later the Taliban sacked Dadullah for refusing to obey orders, according to a statement by a Taliban spokesman.
Update: The UN denies this, of course. UN insists its envoy did not talk to Taliban.
The United Nations said Marvin Patterson, its senior official in Afghanistan, did not talk to Taliban insurgents, a charges that led to the envoys expulsion from the war-battered country last month.
Michele Montas, the spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said the issue was under discussion with the Afghan government. She hoped that Patterson would be able to return to Afghanistan soon.
For their part, the Afghan government is not amused. There is no comment from the British Embassy. Great Game or all just a big understanding.
The government of Afghanistan had received reports that the two individuals were involved in activities that were not consistent with their original jobs and they were engaged in unauthorised activities," he told a news conference.
"As a result the Afghan government expelled the two from Afghanistan and this sends a message that the Afghan government is watching everyone and any unauthorised activity, no matter it comes from wherever, will be stopped."
"Unauthorised activity" hints at what Afghan secret service agents are saying privately.
They point the finger squarely at Michael Semple for running an extensive network of Taleban contacts: "For arrogantly behaving like a Great Game era political officer", they say.
One intelligence officer asked me: "What is the EU deputy head of mission acting like a field commander and who is he working for?"
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