Burhanuddin Rabbani

Afghanistan's controversial politician A controversial politician Burhanuddin Rabbani who had a key role to play until his assassination was a remarkable figure. In 1972, he was selected as head of a 15-member council, called Jamiat-I-Islami of Afghanistan. He escaped to Pakistan, in 1974, after nearly being arrested for his pro-Islamic stance. His party evolved into a Mujahideen fighting group, apposing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A founding father of the Mujahideen movement that defeated Soviet invaders in the 1980s Rabbani was a respected figure abroad. Appointed president of the Islamic Council of Afghanistan, in 1992, Rabbani became de-facto ruler of the country, until Kabul was captured by the Taliban in 1996. An ethnic Tajik, he had been a central figure in the Northern Alliance, a faction of mainly Tajiks and Uzbecks, that fought the Taliban until driving it from power with US support in 2001. Many Afghans remember him as a warlord, not a peacemaker. After the fall of Taliban, Rabbani, in 2001, was recognised as ruler of Afghanistan by the UN until he formally handed over power to an interim government. In 2010, Rabbani was appointed as head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, tasked with negotiating a political end to the war. Born in Badakshan Burhanuddin Rabbani graduated from Kabul University where he studied Islamic Law and Theology.

Compiler: M. Nauman Khan