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muriel_volestrangler

(101,321 posts) Thu Jul 30, 2015, 09:51 AM Jul 2015

Mullah Omar: Taliban choose deputy Mansour as successor

Source: BBC

The Taliban have appointed a successor to Mullah Omar, their leader who was reported dead by the Afghan government on Wednesday, the BBC has been told.

Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Mullah Omar's deputy, will replace him, sources close to the Taliban leadership said.

Correspondents say the move is likely to divide the militants, and that many senior figures opposed the appointment.

Pakistan says peace talks it was due to hold between the Afghan government and the Taliban have been postponed.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33721074

If he really had been dead for 2 years, you wonder how much it matters who is declared the 'leader'.

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Mullah Omar: Taliban choose deputy Mansour as successor (Original Post) muriel_volestrangler Jul 2015 OP

Rather depends if people knew he was dead. Igel Jul 2015 #1

Igel

(35,320 posts)

1. Rather depends if people knew he was dead.

Reply to muriel_volestrangler (Original post)

Thu Jul 30, 2015, 03:17 PM

Jul 2015

He's not so much the military leader as sort of a spiritual symbol. If the symbol's gone and it's a loose confederation that rallied around a symbol, then there's no center to hold them together. If people think the symbol's there, then it's as good as having the symbol there.

"Figurehead" doesn't cut it. Perhaps "dalai" is a bit better.

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