Col Imam dies in Taliban custody

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR – A former ISI official known as the “godfather” of the Afghan Taliban, Col (r) Sultan Amir Tarar – commonly known as Col Imam, died of a heart attack in the custody of North Waziristan based militants linked with the Taliban, nearly 10 months after his abduction.
Sources said the Taliban had confirmed his death but claimed that Imam had died in Khost province of Afghanistan. “His body is being brought to Shawal Valley in North Waziristan and may be handed over to his family,” a source in the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan said over telephone.
“Our information suggest that Sultan Amir Tarar, known as Colonel Imam, died of heart attack in the custody of the Taliban on Saturday and he was not killed by the Taliban, as it is being assumed and reflected in various media reports,” a security official said on Sunday.
However, he said even if Colonel Imam died of heart attack, the militants could not exonerate themselves of his death as he was an ailing, aged man and the militants kept him in custody for months. Colonel Imam was kidnapped along with another former ISI official Khalid Khwaja, British journalist Asad Qureshi and his driver from North Waziristan on March 26 last year.
They were on way to North Waziristan, where Qureshi wanted to work on a documentary film on the Taliban. The “Asian Tigers”, a previously unheard of group, had claimed responsibility for the abduction. Khwaja was shot dead on April 30 last year, who accused him of working for the Pakistani intelligence agencies and US against the Taliban.
Qureshi and his driver were released in September, apparently after the journalist’s family paid a hefty ransom. The official said the close links that Colonel Imam had with Mullah Omar and several other senior militants had made it difficult for the abductors to kill him.