The mystery of the dismissal of two European diplomats from Afghanistan appears to have been solved. The Times of London reports the UN and European Union diplomats were expelled by the Afghan government for negotiating with none other than Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, the Taliban's southern commander.

They held secret meetings with Mansoor Dadullah--a thorn in the side of British military in Helmand province--to try to persuade him to break with the Taliban and form his own political party and militia, according to Afghan government sources.

If they had succeeded it would have been a coup for the western allies shoring up the government of Hamid Karzai in Kabul. Instead, Mervyn Patterson, a high-ranking UN official, and Michael Semple, the acting head of the EU mission to Afghanistan, were expelled after an Afghan national “confessed” to Afghan intelligence that he had accompanied the two to a secret meeting with Dadullah in Musa Qala.

The choice of Mansoor Dadullah as a potential candidate to be split for the Taliban was a poor one. Mansoor follows in the footsteps of his brother, Mullah Dadullah Ahkund, a legendary and brutal Taliban commander who was killed by British forces. Mansoor has continued his brother's legacy, and conducted vicious attacks against NATO and Afghan forces. Dadullah has ordered the suicide campaign to continue against military and civilian targets.

Back in December a report in This is London, a British newspaper, indicated the British government believes the Taliban is made up of a small core of ideological zealots, no more than several hundred leaders, with the rest of the organization being comprised of foot soldiers.

This poor assessment of the nature of the Taliban led to negotiations with the likes of Mansoor Dadullah. There was no chance Mansoor could be bought off to turn on Mullah Omar and the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, as he and his fighters are committed to the Taliban cause.

On the bright side, negotiations with Mansoor led to his dismissal by Mullah Omar.