Tussle Within
As the war drags on, the US discovers the perils of allying with a dictator who wants to appear a statesman abroad and a politician at home.

Battle Weary Wasteland
An exclusive photo feature captures images of Afghan life during unending conflict.

Down and Out
An account of sebi's undoing under D.R. Mehta and the tasks for a new team that will be at the helm in the regulatory body early next year.

PAKISTAN: ABDUL HAQ KILLING

Triple Cross

The brutal killing of Abdul Haq has been a setback in the US plans to divide the Taliban. A former Mujahideen commander, Haq's ties with the CIA went back to the Soviet-Afghan war of the 1980s. He had strong links with the Pashtoon leadership in Afghanistan as well as with the anti-Taliban and largely non-Pashtoon Northern Alliance. Haq's brother Haji Qadir is the former governor of the strategic Nangarhar province and a leader of the Northern Alliance.

	DROP-OUTS
	BIG LOSS: Haq (below)was killed by the Taliban; Hekmatyar (above left )is in Iran; Fahim Khan (above right), who leads the Alliance after Ahmad Shah Masood

Realising it needed Pashtoons to lend its war against the Taliban credibility among the Afghan people, the US sent Haq as its informal envoy to the community. He was, however, betrayed by an informer and killed by the Taliban. The chief suspect is the ISI, for whom the elimination of Haq was vital. If he had succeeded, the US could have bypassed the Pakistani Government in putting together a post-Taliban regime. Islamabad prefers an ethnically riven neighbour. Historically, when united, Afghanistan's tribes have been hostile to Pakistan.

Haq's wife and family were murdered by the Taliban in Peshawar in 1999. Following that he moved to Dubai. Haq was lured into Afghanistan by elements in Peshawar who promised to cross the border with him in large numbers. Even so, Haq was captured 20 km from Jalalabad. He managed to send an SOS to an American businessman friend in Peshawar who in turn called Robert McFarlane, national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan. McFarlane contacted the CIA. Nothing helped Haq.

American hopes are now pinned on former Afghan deputy foreign minister Hamid Karzai. Said to be garnering Pashtoon support near Kandahar, Karzai, 42, is a Popolzai Pashtoon, of the same sub-clan as that of exiled King Zahir Shah. Haq in contrast was an Ahmedzai Pashtoon. Karzai took over as the Popolzai leader after his father Abdul Ahad Karzai was assassinated by the Taliban in Quetta in July 1999. He represents the last senior non-Taliban Pashtoon who is still active in Afghan politics. If he fails-or is sabotaged by the isi-US strategists will have to go back to the drawing board; or look for a time machine to make Zahir Shah 30 years younger.

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