Afghan Biographies
Omari, Abdul Nabi
Name | Omari, Abdul Nabi |
Ethnic backgr. | Pashtun |
Date of birth | 1969 |
Function/Grade | Ex Taliban Official |
History and Biodata |
3. Biodata: Abdul Nabi Omari was clearly added to the list because of his links to Bergdahl’s captors, the Haqqani network. A younger brother, Abdul Rashid, is close to and possibly an aide of the effective leader of the network, Serajuddin Haqqani. In 2012, it was published that Omari was from Khost and had worked there as a judge during the Taleban government and that he may also have worked in the ministry of tribes and borders under the then ministership of Serajuddin’s father, Jalaluddin Haqqani. (A younger brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, Ibrahim Omari, was deputy minister then.) Since then, more details have been gathered. According to one of Omari’s students, he is from the Ismailkhel-Manozai district of Khost and was very active during the jihad against the Soviet occupation, fighting with the students’ (taleban) front of the mullah-dominated mujahedin faction, Harakat-e Enqelab-e Islami. Omari’s student said that, in 1994-96 (ie during Rabbani’s mujahedin government), he was Khost’s security chief (amer-e amniat). He said many khalqi communists were assassinated in Khost during this time and their followers believed Omari was behind these killings. When the Taleban were in power, his student said he served as chief of police in Zabul, and later as chief of the border police at the Ministry of Interior. (The Taleban videoreleased after the prisoner swap simply describes him as a former commander of a border police bataillon.) The US contention that Omari “was a senior Taliban official who served in multiple leadership roles” is nonsense. In reality, he was a mid-level figure, although one whose ongoing links to the Haqqani family got him onto the released list. The other four former detainees can be classed as Taleban leaders, but not Omari.
|
Last Modified | 2014-06-07 |
Established | 2013-06-22 |