Qanuni, Abdullah apologise to Mujaddedi

KABUL (Pajhwok): Vice-President Mohammad Yunus Qanuni and presidential contender Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on Thursday apologised to former president Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, who was not allowed to speak at the Martyrs Day event.

Participants of the Martyrs Week ceremony booed the former jihadi leader off the stage in Kabul on Tuesday. President Hamid Karzai, Dr. Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani, cabinet members, parliamentarians, jihadi leaders and Ahmad Shah Massoud’s supporters attended the meeting.

After speeches by Karzai and Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, Mujaddedi was invited to address the audience. But howls of protest and hooting from the participants did not allow him to speak.

Qanuni and Abdullah visited the house of Mujaddedi to apologise him over the incident. Although Mujaddedi repeatedly asked the participants to calm down, he was not allowed to speak.

He recalled the stout support he had been lent during the jihad against the former Soviet Union, wondering what had prompted the harsh reaction.

Earlier Mujaddedi backed presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the runoff election and the move by Abdullah’s supporters was deemed one of the reasons for the hooting.

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