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Taliban rejects peace talks as it remains silent on Mullah Omar death

By Andrew V. Pestano
Mullah Omar, the reclusive supreme leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, is reported to have died two years ago of tuberculosis. The Afghan government is investigating those reports. The U.S. State Department had issued a $10 million bounty on Mullah Omar. Image courtesy of the U.S. State Department
Mullah Omar, the reclusive supreme leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, is reported to have died two years ago of tuberculosis. The Afghan government is investigating those reports. The U.S. State Department had issued a $10 million bounty on Mullah Omar. Image courtesy of the U.S. State Department

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 30 (UPI) -- The Taliban has rejected new peace talks with the Afghan government as it has remained quiet over reports that its leader, Mullah Omar, died two years ago.

The Taliban has neither confirmed nor denied reports that Omar died in 2013 of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan. Sources close to the Taliban leadership told The Wall Street Journal that the group has privately acknowledged Omar's death and is looking for a successor.

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The insurgent group is grappling with a leadership crisis, as key figures in the Taliban are split on whether they should seek peace with the Afghan government and how they should go about possibly ending the 14-year war.

Some within the Taliban's ranks oppose Pakistan's role as mediator between the two sides. The Taliban released a statement warning mediators not to become "hurdles in the way of peace."

The Taliban has previously insisted that only their office in Qatar is able to broker peace with the Afghan government. The militant group's media branch released a statement Thursday rejecting peace efforts that did not include their political commission in Qatar.

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A key "condition for peace is the free will and consent of the conflicting parties," the Taliban statement added. "If coercion and foreign pressures are behind it then it could not be acceptable."

Earlier this month, the Afghan Taliban released a message attributed to Omar to mark the Ramadan festival of Eid al-Fitr. He has not been seen in public for at least 13 years.

Omar's death would raise questions about who is leading the movement. He became the Taliban's supreme leader in 1996 and was forced into hiding following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. The U.S. State Department had a $10 million bounty on his whereabouts. Over the years, he formed close ties with al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden.

Amy R. Connolly and Danielle Haynes contributed to this report.

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