KABUL - A surging crowd of mourners on Friday touched and kissed the coffin of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, assassinated by a suicide bomber claiming to carry a Taliban peace message, and vented at their own government and its efforts to reconcile with the insurgency.
Ex-president Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani's funeral prayers, attended by foreign dignitaries and senior government officials, were offered amid tight security at the Presidential Palace in Kabul on Friday.
Abdur Rab Rasul Sayyaf, ex-jihadi leader and lawmaker, led the funeral at 10:38 am. Among others, President Hamid Karzai, members of Parliament and Cabinet, Rabbani's relatives, government officials and diplomats were in attendance.
"May Allah give Rabbani the status of martyrs, true faithful, preachers and saints. We pray to Almighty Allah to eliminate the enemies of Rabbani, Islam and humanity," the ex-jihadi leader said while addressing the participants.
In angry chants at a hilltop cemetery, grieving followers of Rabbani's political faction vilified President Hamid Karzai, blamed Taliban insurgents for Afghanistan's woes and denounced Pakistan for allegedly stirring up the conflict. Shouts against the United States, which backs the government, reflected frustration that a decade of Western support has failed to unite their divided land.
"Death to Karzai... Death to the foreign puppets," chanted the throng, some young men, others veterans of the guerrilla war against Soviet occupying forces in the 1980s. "Pakistan is our enemy ... Long live the resistance ... The Muslim people are united."
The chaotic outpouring of frustration, and statements that the time for peacemaking has passed, pointed to Afghanistan's ethnic divisions and the fragility of its government. It also contrasted with an earlier, stately ceremony at the presidential palace, where Karzai hailed Rabbani as a tireless advocate for reconciliation.
"It is our responsibility to act against those who are enemies of peace," said Karzai, urging Afghans to shun despair over the death of Rabbani in an attack at his home on Tuesday, and instead escalate efforts to end the fighting. "The blood of the martyred (Rabbani) and other martyrs of freedom requires us to continue our efforts until we reach peace and stability," Karzai said.
"We will continue our efforts to reach peace which was the wish of martyred ustad (professor) but at the same time, we consider it as our responsibility to fight the enemies of peace with determination", he said.
The 70-year-old Rabbani was the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, which helped overthrow Taliban rule during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. His death threatens to deepen rifts between the country's ethnic minorities, especially between those who made up the Northern Alliance.
Karzai had appointed Rabbani to Afghanistan's High Peace Council, which was seeking to reconcile the nation's warring factions. It has made little headway since it was formed a year ago, but its efforts are backed by many in the international community.
One by one, lawmakers and foreign envoys at the palace paid tribute before Rabbani's casket, draped in a red, black and green national flag. A military band played the national anthem. Then a procession of vehicles, some bearing large portraits of Rabbani.
There, the observances turned unruly.
"Death to those wanting to make a deal," mourners shouted. "We don't want Karzai."
The suicide attacker who killed Rabbani had a bomb in his turban, and gained entry to the former president's home by convincing officials, including Karzai's advisers, that he represented the Taliban leadership and wanted to discuss reconciliation.
Noone has claimed responsibility for the killing, and Taliban spokesmen have declined to discuss it.
Namatullah Ahmady, a university student who attended the burial, said Rabbani's death dashes all hope for making peace with the Taliban.
"It's finished," he said, adding that if the insurgents now say they want to reconcile, the government should say: "We're not interested."
Waqif Hakimi, a spokesman for Rabbani's political faction, Jamiat-e Islami, said only a small number of people became overly emotional.
"They were chanting against the Taliban and terrorism and other things, but it did not escalate," he said. "Some people were shouting their different slogans, but it was not the message of the party."
Some mourners wanted to open the coffin so they could see Rabbani's face, but his family did not allow it.
"Today we are witnessing one of the biggest and saddest events of this important political time in the history of the world," said Salahuddin Rabbani, the former president's son. He urged the Afghan government to aggressively investigate the killing.
Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, Ministry of Defense spokesman Zahir Azimi, Energy and Water Minister Ismail Khan, Rural Rehabilitation and Development Jarullah Mansoori and ex-jihadi commanders participated in the rites. (AP/Agencies)