'Father of the Taliban' Calls on China to Aid Afghan Peace Talks

Islamic cleric Maulana Samiul Haq, chancellor of Darul Uloom Haqqania madrassa and former senator, right, delivers a lecture to final-year students at the seminary in Akora Khattak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018. The Islamic cleric who taught the Taliban's leaders has called on China to play a larger role in negotiations to end the 17-year Afghan conflict. Haq, who is believed to be in close contact with the Afghan Taliban and schooled its present chief, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said China would be welcomed as an arbitrator in negotiations and shouldn't "leave matters of such a great importance solely to the U.S." Photographer: Asad Zaidi/Bloomberg via Getty Images