Najibullah (like many Afghans he only had one name) was a great survivor at a time of particular turbulence in Afghanistan. Installed as president in 1986 during the Soviet occupation of his country, he clung to power until 1992 - for nearly three years after the Soviet Red Army had pulled all its troops out. But he met an especially violent end at the hands of the victorious Taleban movement, just hours after their forces had swept up from the east and captured the Afghan capital, Kabul.
On Thursday night Najibullah and his brother were pulled out of a United Nations compound in the centre of the capital, where they had lived in refuge since Najibullah's fall from power. They were shot dead and their bodies were then strung up on a pole outside the presidential palace. The manner of their deaths outraged the head of the United Nations mission to Afghanistan, Norbert Holl, who promptly issued a statement expressing dismay that they were also killed without a legitimate triall. Holl said it violated international law, and jeopardised the efforts being made to secure a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan.
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