Is Zaeef innocent?

UNITED STATES forces are holding the former Taliban spokesman and ambassador to Pakistan for questioning.Abdul Salaam Zaeef is presently in custody on an amphibian assault ship on the Arabian Sea. He had previously applied for asylum in Pakistan but was handed over by the government to the American military.It is now abundantly clear that the al-Qaeda network and Osama Bin Laden were responsible for the air attack on the World Trade Centre. The Taliban also hosted bin Laden and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan as holy warriors. The Taliban itself has been exposed as an extreme and repressive regime not truly representative of Islam.However this does not mean that anyone associated with the Taliban, even at high levels, has automatically committed a crime.There were clearly some religious extremists who sincerely believed in the Taliban’s distorted and archaic interpretation of the Koran even though very few Muslims around the world accepted its harsh treatment of women, petty dress code for men and general killjoy approach towards society.Moreover the Taliban was effectively the legitimate government of Afghanistan since it took power five years ago. It may have shot its way to power but it came nearer than any other political group to restoring law and order in Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion. In other words, unless there is clear evidence that Zaeef was a member of al-Qaeda and a conspirator in the attack on the WTC, he has committed no criminal act, even if the social attitudes of the Taliban were morally repugnant. Being a spokesman for the Taliban outside Afghanistan was not perceived as criminal before September 11th, nor should it automatically be seen as criminal after that date.