A dispute that threatened to split
the Afghan Taliban has been resolved after relatives of late leader
Mullah Omar backed his successor, the group says.
A spokesman told
the BBC that Omar's eldest son and brother swore allegiance to Mullah
Akhtar Mansour on Tuesday - and the movement was now united.
The move consolidates the new leader's place after weeks of uncertainty.
His swift appointment had angered some Taliban leaders after the group's founder's death was confirmed in July.
Mullah Omar's family and a number of senior figures were against his successor and splits emerged into the open.
Who is Mullah Mansour?
Long seen as acting head of the Taliban, and close to its founder Mullah Omar
Born in the sixties, in Kandahar province, where he later served as shadow governor after the Taliban's fall
Was civil aviation minister during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan
Had an active role in drug trafficking, according to the UN
Has clashed with Abdul Qayum Zakir, a
senior military commander, amid a power struggle and differences over
negotiations with the Afghan government
The BBC's Dawood Azami says Mullah
Omar's son and brother - Mullah Yaqoub and Mullah Manan - have little
military power but their support is symbolically significant. He says
Mullah Mansour's leadership now seems accepted by most Taliban.
Several other heavyweights not already on board are now expected to follow suit.
The
support of important Taliban commanders in the south has yet to be
secured but would be even more important, our correspondent says.
"We intend to protect and keep this movement united," the Taliban said in a statement on their website.
Speaking
to BBC Persian's Harun Najafizada, Taliban spokesman Zaibullah Mujahid
did not reveal where the secret meeting had been held but said it had
been "splendid".
Asked about other senior Taliban figures such as
Manan Niazi, Mullah Hassan Akhund and Mansour Dadullah, the spokesman
said: "They have not yet given allegiances, but they should give it now,
because they were waiting for the family of the commander of the
faithful to go first."
Media captionMullah Omar dead: What we know, in 1 minute
Taliban enter uncharted territory Mullah Omar: Reclusive figure Pakistan quiet on Mullah Omar's death
The
Associated Press news agency reported that it had spoken to Mullah
Manan and he confirmed that he and Mullah Yaqoub now supported Mullah
Mansour.
The two men made their support conditional on the new
leader accepting eight demands, giving them more say, an aide to Mullah
Yaqoub told Reuters news agency. These included restructuring the
leadership shura (council) and ruling by consensus.
"Mullah Mansour accepted all these demands," the aide said.
Last
month the Taliban admitted covering up Mullah Omar's death for two
years, for tactical reasons. Earlier this week his son said he had died
of natural causes in Afghanistan, after contracting hepatitis C.
This
conflicts with the account given by the Afghan government, which said
Mullah Omar died in hospital in Karachi in 2013, despite Pakistani
denials he was in the country.
The death disrupted fledgling peace
talks between the Afghan government and the insurgents, but hopes for
talks will rise if Mullah Mansour's position is more secure.
Taliban leader Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan, a spokesman for Afghanistan's security services says.
Abdul Hassib Seddiqi told the BBC's Afghan Service that Mullah Omar had died of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan.
Afghanistan's government says information on his death is "credible".
The
latest reports of Mullah Omar's death are being taken more seriously
than previous such reports. The Taliban is expected to issue a statement
soon.
Sources at the Taliban's two main councils in Quetta and
Peshawar in Pakistan told the BBC they were in intensive talks to agree
on a replacement for Mullah Omar.
A statement from the office of
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani said that it believed, "based on
credible information", that Mullah Omar died in April 2013 in Pakistan.
The Afghan government, elected last year, has embarked on a peace process with the Taliban.
In its statement, the government called on "all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process".
A
security official in Pakistan, the country hosting the talks, told AP
that the claims of Mullah Omar's death were mere "speculation", designed
to destabilise the negotiations.
Pakistan's government and
security services have not formally commented on the claims so far. They
have always denied that Mullah Omar was in their country.
The White House says it believes reports of his death are credible. Who is Mullah Omar? Lyse Doucet: What is the future for the Taliban?
The Taliban militia won a series of victories under Mullah Omar's leadership
The Taliban leader is believed to have suffered a shrapnel wound to his right eye in the 1980s
Analysis - Dawood Azami, BBC World Service
Mullah Omar has not been seen in public since the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
The
absence of confirmed contacts for several years fuelled speculation.
His ill-health and even death have regularly been rumoured in the past.
Over
the past two years, even some high-ranking Taliban started asking
questions, both privately and within the Taliban circles, about their
leader's health, life and ability to run the insurgency.
Despite
his long absence from the public view, the mystique of the man has been
overwhelming. He had become a symbol and a unifying figure within the
Taliban. While the day-to-day affairs have been managed by his deputies,
everything else revolved around his name.
Questions about his
life and whereabouts will only increase, putting pressure on the Taliban
to produce credible evidence - if he is alive.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a wanted notice for Mullah Omar
Mullah Omar led the Taliban to
victory over rival Afghan militias in the civil war that followed the
withdrawal of Soviet troops.
His alliance with al-Qaeda leader
Osama Bin Laden prompted the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in
the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Mullah Omar has since been in hiding, with a $10m (£6.4m) US state department bounty on his head.
Over the years, the Taliban have released several messages purported to be from the fugitive leader.
The latest of these statements, from mid-July, expressed support for the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
However,
the message was in the form of a text published on a Taliban website,
rather than an audio or video recording - fuelling rumours that the
leader was dead or incapacitated.
The failure to prove that Mullah
Omar was alive was a major factor behind the defection of several
senior Taliban commanders to the so-called Islamic State group,
according to the BBC's former Kabul correspondent, David Loyn.
Mullah Mohammed Omar
Taliban say he was born in 1960 in the village of Chah-i-Himmat, in Kandahar province
Fought in resistance against Soviet occupation in 1980s, suffering a shrapnel injury to his right eye
Forged close ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden
Became "supreme leader" of Taliban movement in 1996
US-led forces overthrew his government in 2001; US state department has a $10m bounty on him
Earlier this year the Taliban published a biography of him saying he does not own a home and has no foreign bank account, and saying he "has a special sense of humour"
