The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, and one of the best-known faces of the war on Afghanistan said today he had applied for political asylum in Pakistan.
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Former Taliban envoy to Pakistan Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef
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However, he said his application was only for temporary asylum in Pakistan, where he served as the only spokesman for the fundamentalist militia during the US strikes on the Taliban government.
"I have applied for asylum and I am waiting for a reply from the Pakistan government", he told Reutersfrom the southwestern city of Quetta, near the border with Afghanistan.
Asked why he had applied for asylum instead of returning to his homeland where the Taliban have been toppled from power and his leader, the reclusive Mullah Mohammad Omar, was on the run, Mr Zaeef said the time was not right.
"I don't feel it's the right time to go back to my country yet", he said, but he did not rule out going home one day.
Mr Zaeef became famous as the Taliban's principal voice to the outside world following the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington.
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He was originally one of three Taliban ambassadors, but Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates broke off diplomatic relations under pressure from the United States in September, leaving Mr Zaeef as the sole spokesman.
He put forward the Taliban case, accompanied by a stream of jokes, and provided a line for communication with his isolated and reclusive leaders, until Pakistan ordered the closure of the Taliban embassy on November 22nd.