The top contenders included Mansour and Omar’s son Mullah Yakoub, who sources said was favoured by some commanders but at 26 was considered too young and inexperienced for such a key role.
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Mullah Omar’s replacement, Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, appointed Sirajuddin Haqqani as his deputy, underscoring the links between the Afghan insurgency and the Haqqani network, who are believed to be close to Pakistan’s feared Inter Services Intelligence. According to earlier reports, talks were scheduled to take place in Xinjiang’s provincial capital Urmuqi, but shifted to Pakistan, where the first round was held.
The elusive leader had not appeared in public since the Taliban regime’s overthrow in Afghanistan 14 years ago and made no video or authenticated audio statements in that time.
His election to the leadership of the Afghan Taliban confirms the group’s ties to the Haqqani network, which has been accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from its base in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan, including a 19-hour siege at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul in September 2011.
The dispute threatens to derail embryonic peace talks and a rift could allow other Jihadist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a foothold in Afghanistan.
JuD is a controversial organisation, which was added to the banned outfits list by Pakistani authorities at the start of the year, along with the Haqqani network.
Mullah Omar, the founder-chief of Taliban was officially declared dead on Wednesday.
Mansour, a longtime trusted deputy of Omar, takes charge as the movement faces growing internal divisions and is threatened by the rise of the Islamic State group, the Middle East jihadist outfit that is making inroads in Afghanistan.
Political analyst Ahmad Saeedi said the Taliban’s statement could signal a total rejection of the talks.
The founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, which carried out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, tweeted from his official account saying “funeral prayer in absentia is being offered of amir (chief) of hundreds and thousands of Mujahideen”.
“Mansoor’s major challenge is to strike a deal with the Afghan government and at the same time convince the hardliners to stop fighting and hold the movement together”, he said.
Omar was not seen since 2001 when US-led troops invaded Afghanistan.
The Afghan government said it regretted the postponement of the second formal face-to-face meeting with the Taliban.
The Taliban announced the appointment of the new leader in a statement on its website on Friday. Sirajuddin Haqqani, Jalaluddin’s son, has been running the militant network for over a year, ever since his father’s illness.
The Haqqani network has been active since 1980 and is allied with the Afghan Taliban.
The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ended last year, leaving the Afghan military to lead the fight against the Taliban.
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Their discussions led to the initial tip picked up by the National Directorate of Security, Afghan officials said.
