Ahmad Wali Massoud (

Dari Persian Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

: ; born 1 November 1964) is an Afghan politician and diplomat who is the founder and chairman of the Massoud Foundation in Afghanistan. He is the younger brother of the late

Ahmad Shah Massoud Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...

. Massoud obtained a degree in diplomatic studies from

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

, London in 1989. He has served as Afghan ambassador to the UK, special representative of Ahmad Shah Massoud in Europe, and the representative of the

Jamiat-e Islami Jamiat-e-Islami (also rendered as Jamiati Islami; ), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Afghan Tajik political party and former paramilitary organisation in Afghanistan. It is the oldest and largest functioning political part ...

Party in London. He is the founder of a political party called Nahzat-e-Melli-ye Afghanistan ( National Movement of Afghanistan). He is the founder of the ''Mandegar Daily'' newspaper and the history magazine ''Yad–e-Yar'' (The Memory of Friends). Massoud published the ''National Agenda'', his first book, in 2012. In September 2021, TRT World journalist Samuel Ramani was able to speak with Massoud. During the interview, which was published in the 21 September edition of

TRT World TRT Global, previously named TRT World, is a Turkish public broadcaster which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day and is operated by the TRT and based in the Ulus quarter of Ankara. It provides worldwide news and current affairs focusing on ...

, Massoud stated that the Resistance still controls much of the Valley and downplayed the reported strength of the Taliban, which he described as "leaderless." Ramani stated that his interview with Massoud was conducted the week before it was published. During the interview, Massoud also described former Afghanistan President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

's government as too corrupt to survive and also cast doubt on the notion that the Taliban had the military capacity to successfully take power without outside assistance, accusing US Special Envoy to Afghanistan

Zalmay Khalilzad Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021. Khailzad was appointed by Preside ...

of having a role in orchestrating their return to power. Massoud also described Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Mark Milley Mark Alexander Milley (born 20 June 1958) is a retired United States Army general who served as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2023. He had previously served as the 39th chief of staff of ...

’s September 1, 2021 assertion that the Taliban could fight ISIS-K as "very naive."

References

Afghan politicians Afghan Tajik people Alumni of the University of Westminster Living people Ambassadors of Afghanistan to the United Kingdom 1964 births {{Afghanistan-politician-stub

See also

References