Afghan peace negotiator shot to death

A senior Afghan peace negotiator has been shot dead in Kabul, officials say. Arsala Rahmani was a former Taliban minister and a key member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, which leads efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban.

Correspondents say his death is a major blow to President Hamid Karzai as Mr Rahmani was a key figure in reaching out to Taliban commanders.

Last year the chief of the peace council was killed in a suicide attack.

Burhannudin Rabbani was killed by a bomb hidden in the turban of a suicide attacker posing as a Taliban peace envoy last September.

His US-educated son, Salahuddin Rabbani, was appointed to replace him last month.

Single gun shot

Police say that Mr Rahmani was shot dead on Sunday morning by an unidentified gunman while he was on his way to work in the west of Kabul.

Attackers driving a white Toyota Corolla fired a single bullet using a silencer, the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul reports.

"His driver did not immediately realise that Rahmani had been killed," police official Mohammad Zahir told Reuters news agency.

There had been threats against his life in the past and questions will be raised as to why he was travelling without an armed bodyguard, our correspondent says.

Mr Rahmani was one of the first senior Taliban members to join the peace process and his death will be of concern to other Taliban officials, a senior presidential aide told our correspondent.

He was a critical figure in President Karzai's plans to reach out to Taliban commanders, although it is unclear how many senior leaders he managed to bring into the fold.

Nevertheless the president frequently consulted him to gain insight into the inner workings and the thinking of the Taliban leadership.

Mr Rahmani was responsible for the committee within the peace council that considers the release of Taliban prisoners from Bagram and other Afghan prisons.

He served as minister of higher education in the Taliban administration that ruled Afghanistan for five years until the US drove them from power in 2001.

But he had been politically active long before the birth of the Taliban movement, holding political office in Afghan administrations during the 1990s.

And he was one of several former Taliban officials removed from a UN blacklist last July as a signal of support for Afghan peace efforts, which meant that a travel ban and assets freeze were lifted.

'Limited' success

Afghanistan's 70-member peace council was set up two years ago by President Karzai to open negotiations with insurgents.

The council was credited with reconciling hundreds of Taliban field commanders, but had failed to woo any senior figures away from the insurgency.

Although the Taliban denied sanctioning last year's killing of Mr Rabbani, they view the Western-backed Karzai government as illegitimate.

And in March the militants suspended parallel preliminary peace negotiations with the United States, saying US efforts to involve the Afghan authorities were a key stumbling block.

Arsala Rahmani

Appointed as senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, after it was set up in 2010

As a former education minister for the Taliban, he was seen as crucial in efforts to reach out to militants

Close to President Karzai who frequently consulted him to gain insight to Taliban thinking

The UN removed his name from a sanctions blacklist - a signal of support to reconciliation efforts

He was politically active well before the birth of the Taliban movement, holding political office in various administrations during the 1990s

Most recently he was responsible for the committee that looked at the fate of Taliban fighters in Bagram and other Afghan prisons

Source: BBC