AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: The opposition to the Taliban suffered a significant setback today when one of the more respected opposition leaders, Abdul Haq, was executed in Kabul. He had been taken into custody there yesterday. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon is in Pakistan, and has more details on that -- Rebecca.</s>REBECCA MACKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Aaron, Abdul Haq's family members here in Peshawar have now confirmed they too have the news that Abdul Haq, the exiled commander, is indeed dead. Now, CNN sources have confirmed that Abdul Haq was apprehended late Thursday night by the Taliban. And then on Friday afternoon, earlier today, he and three other associates were put on trial in Kabul, and they were convicted of spying for the United States and then taken out and shot. Now, the family members say he was by no means spying for the United States. They say he was on a peace mission. He was unarmed. That he was going in to talk to broad -- a wide number of people, some moderate Taliban people included in order to try and build a broad- based consensus coalition to try to overthrow the current regime in Afghanistan. Clearly that mission failed rather badly -- Aaron.</s>BROWN: And in the broadest scheme of things, how significant a blow is this to those who see a post-Taliban Afghanistan and the players in that game?</s>MACKINNON: Well, Aaron, it is something of a blow. Abdul Haq was not the only leader working to build consensus within Afghanistan to work towards an alternative to the Taliban that would be considered viable and that would be considered to be something that was homegrown and not imposed on Afghanistan from outside. Now, one of the problems is that Abdul Haq was tried and executed for being a U.S. spy. And clearly the Taliban are trying to paint these efforts as being U.S.- imposed, and not homegrown at all -- Aaron.</s>BROWN: Rebecca, thank you. Rebecca MacKinnon in Pakistan today.
Former Northern Alliance Commander Executed by Taliban