3. The president

09/15/21 • 26 min

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Networker, survivor - Afghanistan's former leader Hamid Karzai, famous for his traditional cloak and sheepskin hat, is back in the news. While others fled Kabul in mid-August when the Taliban swept in, Karzai stayed. He sat with them to help negotiate the transfer of power. In power for 13 of the past 20 years, the former president tells Lyse Doucet he's proud of what Afghanistan achieved and says neither he nor the US were able to stem the resurgence of the Taliban.

Series music composed by Arson Fahim

Series music composed by Arson Fahim

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2. The Talib

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Founding member, ambassador, prisoner – in the Taliban’s inner circle at the very start. Abdul Salam Zaeef rose to prominence in the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan until Western forces overthrew it following 9/11. Handed over to the Americans, Mullah Zaeef spent three years as a prisoner in the US detention centre, Guantanamo Bay. He no longer holds an official post in the Taliban, but he despises the democracy that has been built in Afghanistan over the last 20 years. He tells Lyse Doucet that Afghanistan needs a proper Islamic government.

Series music composed by Arson Fahim

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4. The negotiator

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The woman face to face with the Taliban - peacemaker, women’s rights advocate and negotiator, Fatima Gailani is the nearest Afghanistan has to aristocracy. Now in her late 60s, she was the female face of Afghan resistance to the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, the Mujahideen. She returned to Afghanistan after 24 years in exile following the US-led invasion of 2001. And in 2020 she became one of four female peace negotiators to sit down with the Taliban. She tells Lyse Doucet, talking is the only way and she and all Afghans deserve peace.