Sibghatullah Modschaddedi

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Sibghatullah Modschaddedi (2014)

Sibghatullah Modschaddedi ( Pashtun صبغت الله مجددي; Persian صبغت‌الله مجددی, DMG Ṣabġatullāh Moǧaddedī ; * April 21, 1925 in Kabul ; † February 11, 2019 ibid) was the first President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan after the fall of the communist regime in 1992. He was also the leader of the National Liberation Front .

Mojaddedi transferred power to President Burhanuddin Rabbani after a two-month term , based on a previous agreement reached by the mujahideen in Pakistan . Modschaddedi was not politically active during the time of the Taliban rule . In December 2003 he became chairman of the Loja Jirga , which ratified Afghanistan's new constitution.

Life

Early years

Sibghatullah Modschaddedi is considered a descendant of the Mujaddid Ahmad Sirhindi and was born in 1925 in the province of Kabul in Afghanistan. He studied Islamic law and jurisprudence at al-Azhar University in Cairo , Egypt . In Afghanistan he taught at Habibia University and later at Kabul University after completing his doctorate .

Modschaddedi was imprisoned from 1959 to 1964 for allegedly participating in an assassination attempt on Soviet Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev . He also took part in anti-communist and anti-Soviet demonstrations in Kabul in 1970 . After Daoud Khan's successful coup in 1973, he went into exile and worked at the Copenhagen mosque in Denmark .

The Soviet invasion (1979–1989)

At the beginning of the Soviet invasion in 1979, he founded the Afghan National Liberation Army, a traditional Islamic party. Although his party's military power remained marginal, Mojaddedi was a highly respected leader among the mujahid. His reputation as a moderate politician was finally recognized in 1989 when he was selected as head of the "Interim Islamic State of Afghanistan". As head of the provisional Afghan government, he then met with the then President of the United States , George HW Bush . He was ready to take office when the mujahid invaded Kabul in April 1992 and overthrew the government of President Mohammed Najibullah , and a ceasefire was reached with Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Jamiat-e Eslami .

President of the Republic

Eleven days later the parties in Kabul announced in an agreement that excluded the Shia parties and Hezb-e Eslāmī , led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyār , that Sibghatullah Modschaddedi would become president for two months, followed by Burhānuddin Rabbāni of the Jamiat-e Eslami to be inherited for four years. During this term of office, a loja jirga , or a large council of Afghan elders, should come together and appoint a provisional administration to maintain power for one year until elections. In May 1992, Rabbāni prematurely formed the leadership council and undermined Mojaddedi's weak authority.

In June Modschaddedi passed power to the leadership council, which then elected Rabbani as president. Rejecting the agreement, Hekmatyār launched massive rocket attacks on Kabul, which lasted three years with interruptions until he was expelled from Kabul province in February 1995. Modschaddedi's decision to grant a general amnesty to all citizens regardless of political ties until a legal system is reinstated in the country is one of the legacies of his presidency. Modschaddedi then withdrew into private life. He lived in Pakistan during the Taliban rule .

After the Taliban

In December 2003 Modschaddedi was elected chairman of the Loja Jirga. Under his leadership, the Loja Jirga passed a new constitution for the country. When the constitutional Loja Jirga began its work, Modschaddedi named a woman as one of his three deputies to ensure the active participation of women in the meetings.

Since March 16, 2005 he was chairman of the "National Commission for Peace in Afghanistan", as which he was appointed by President Hamid Karzai . The Commission's aim is to promote national reconciliation. At a press conference in Kabul on May 9, 2005, Modschaddedi announced that participation in the reconciliation process would be open to all Afghans, including Mohammed Omar (leader of the Taliban) and Gulbuddin Hekmatyār.

He said his remarks had been misinterpreted by the media and that it was up to the Afghan nation to forgive or punish Mohammed Omar and Gulbuddin Hekmatyār. He also stated that political lines change over time, adding that the Reconciliation Commission operates independently but with the full backing of President Karzai.

Mojaddedi was quoted as saying, “If they accept Afghanistan's new constitution and stop fighting, they may be forgiven. But personally I cannot waive the sentence because I have no right to do so. "

On December 18, 2005, Afghanistan's parliament elected Sibghatullah Modschaddedi as chairman of the 102-seat legislative upper house, the Meschrano Jirga, for five years.

On March 12, 2006, Modschaddedi survived a suicide bombing attack directed at him when assassins detonated a car laden with explosives that was near his vehicle while it was being driven down a busy street. Two assassins and two passers-by were killed, while Modschaddedi himself was only slightly injured. Mojaddedi blamed the ISI as the driving force behind the attacks, which he believes were carried out by former members of the Taliban . Modschaddedi was also the head of an official Afghan peace commission that offers amnesty for former Taliban and encourages them to lay down their arms.

Sibghatullah Modschaddedi lived in Kabul, where he died in February 2019 at the age of 93 after a long illness.

Trivia

  • Modschaddedi was often referred to as pir or sheikh , which means saint or elder , as he was the oldest member of the Sufi order Naqshbandi . His family bears the title of pir (saint) in the Sufi order that forms the basis of his large religious following throughout Afghanistan.
  • Modschaddedi was a conservative Maulawi (Islamic scholar). His party consists mainly of Naqshbandi .
  • In June 2002, Modschaddedi in Florida was removed from the queue for a Virgin Atlantic Airways flight to London by security forces for an additional search of his baggage. Police said security screen monitors said they heard him speak of an Islamic liberation organization and say "I know you are looking for a bomb" and "God will repay". These sentences were spoken in English but misinterpreted by the screen controllers; none of them spoke English as their mother tongue. Modschaddedi was in Florida at the time to attend a wedding.

Web links

Commons : Sibghatullah Modschaddedi  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. Former Afghan President Sibghatullah Mojaddedi passes away. In: The Express Tribune. February 12, 2019, accessed on February 12, 2019 .
  2. ^ Former Afghan President Survives Bomb, Blames Pakistan. In: Radio Free Europe . March 12, 2006, archived from the original on September 27, 2007 ; accessed on February 12, 2019 .
  3. ^ François Grangier: Ex-Afghan President Removed From Jet. In: Air-Expertises. June 3, 2002, archived from the original on May 21, 2003 ; accessed on February 12, 2019 .