Haq, Abdul

▪ 2002

Humayoun Arsala 

      Afghan resistance leader (b. 1957/58, Nangarhar province, Afg.—d. Oct. 26, 2001, Kabul, Afg.), was an audacious guerrilla commander in Afghanistan's war against the Soviet Union and later became an internationally known English-language spokesman for the anti-Taliban resistance. In 1977 he joined the fight against the Soviets, eventually taking the nom de guerre Abdul Haq. He was a strong supporter of Afghanistan's exiled king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, and served in Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's interim government in the mid-1990s. When war again broke out among the Afghan warlords, Haq left the country and became a successful businessman in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. In September 2001, after the assassination of Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Masoud (q.v. (Masoud, Ahmad Shah )), a political and military rival, and the terrorist attacks in the U.S., Haq tried to dissuade the Western allies from bombing Afghanistan. He reportedly was attempting to negotiate with anti-Taliban supporters when he was captured by Taliban forces and, within hours, executed as a spy.

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