Hundreds of mourners paid their respects over the weekend to Mr Abdul Haq, the former Mujahideen commander executed last week in Afghanistan by the country's ruling Taliban forces, who accused him of betrayal.
The men, including exiled anti-Taliban Afghans, congregated at the plush home of Mr Haq's brother in a wealthy suburb just outside the north-western city of Peshawar.
Mr Haq's family denied the Taliban claims that their Afghan-born relative had been on a US-backed mission to foment dissent against them. The Taliban have rejected US demands that they hand over Osama bin Laden, the man accused by the US of orchestrating the hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington last month.
Mr Haq's nephew, Yousef, told The Irish Times yesterday his uncle had gone to his home country of Afghanistan more than a week ago on a self-inspired peace mission to unite tribal leaders.
"He just went there for peace, not to cause a fight," he said, standing outside the large brick villa. "He was trying to convince all different tribes in Afghanistan to make efforts to pave the way for peace in Afghanistan. He was trying to form such a government in which all the factions, including the Taliban, were there."
Mr Haq was executed after being surrounded by Taliban troops last Friday about 20 miles inside Afghanistan. He was a member of the ethnic Pashtun majority, like most of the Taliban. Mr Haq lost a foot in a mine blast fighting against the decade-long Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Afghan opposition groups had hoped his Mujahideen and Pashtun credibility would convince moderate Taliban members there was an alternative to the Taliban movement.
Mr Haq belonged neither to the Taliban nor to the opposition US-backed Northern Alliance, which is dominated by Tajiks and Uzbeks. He was the kind of figure the US and its allies may need if they are to form a multi-ethnic, broad-based government to replace the Taliban. His death is seen as a serious setback for that cause.
Mr Haq's wife and child were murdered in Peshawar in 1999, killings also blamed on the Taliban.
Armed guards stood outside the Haq family home yesterday while mourners filed into the garden where they sat in rows under a large green marquee drinking tea dispensed from large steel urns. One Afghan mourner, a former commander and friend of Mr Haq's, said the only political way to solve the Afghanistan problem was to "eliminate the Taliban government in Afghanistan. We support the US. We propose that the US hits exact and accurate targets in Afghanistan and therefore all people will support them. They had better find another solution for Afghanistan." The man said he also supported efforts to unite Afghanistan under its exiled former king, Zahir Shah.
Mr Haq's family said they had no choice but to bury him at the weekend in his home village near the Afghan city of Jalalobad after the Taliban refused to allow them to bring his body back to Peshawar. Mr Haq's body had been handed over to a delegation of his relatives in Kabul but they were not able to travel beyond Jalalobad.