The Taliban leadership has appointed Mawlawi Abdul Hakim, the ‘chief justice’ of the group, as head of their 21-member negotiating team in Qatar (Doha), making the former chief negotiator Abbas Stanekzai his deputy, Tolo News reports on September 6. Sources close to the Taliban said that most of the fatwa (rulings) of the group, particularly on war, are issued by Abdul Hakim and that he will attend the negotiating table with full authority. Mawlawi Abdul Hakim was a mentor for many high-ranking Taliban members and was a close aide to Mullah Mansour, the former ‘head’ of the group, according to Taliban sources. Out of 21, 13 members of the Taliban’s negotiating team are members of the leadership of the group.