[6] On 7 January 2002, Newsday described Habibullah as one of the senior Taliban leaders who had defected, went into exile in Pakistan, and were seeking a peaceful role in Afghanistan's politics.
[7] The defectors revived a defunct political party, Jamiat Khudamul Furgan, translated as "Association of the servants of the Quran".
[8] In 2005 Habibullah, and three other former Taliban leaders described as moderates, Abdul Hakim Mujahid, Arsullah Rahmani and Rahmatullah Wahidyar met with officials of the Hamid Karzai administration to discuss the possible surrender of active Taliban fighters.
[9] In an interview published on 4 March 2005 Radio Free Europe, Habibullah said that the moderates had been in talks with the Karzai administration for the previous two years.
[10] “...wearing Afghan style clothes – shalwar kamez and turban – came from Quetta to Kabul with a message of peace from the Taliban.