Orlando gunman's father railed against Afghan president in political show

The father of Omar Mateen, who has been identified as the gunman who killed 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday, ranted against the Pakistan government and Afghan president Ashraf Ghani in several appearances on a US-based Afghan satellite channel.

Dozen of videos of Seddique Mateen talking on a fringe political show - the "Durand Jirga Show” - hosted on the California-based Payam-e-Afghan channel can be found on YouTube. 

In one video, Mateen seems to entrust the Afghan Taliban - called "our warrior brothers" - to solve the issue of the disputed Durand Line, the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan which was demarcated by the British in 1893.

“Our brothers in Waziristan, our warrior brothers in [the] Taliban movement and national Afghan Taliban are rising up,” he said in Dari, a dialect of Persian spoken in northern Afghanistan, according to a Washington Post translation. “Inshallah the Durand Line issue will be solved soon.”

The owner of the channel told Reuters Mateen took part to the show "three or four times a year".

"He'd talk for about two to three hours," Khatab said. "He'd buy his own time and come here and broadcast and leave within a day."

Seddique's son Omar is the man who shot dead 50 people and wounded 53 more in the deadliest single U.S. mass shooting incident. In an interview with NBC after the Orlando massacre, Mateen said the attack had nothing to do with religion, suggesting his son got angry when he saw two men kissing in front of his wife and child.

“We are apologizing for the whole incident. We weren’t aware of any action he is taking, we are in shock like the whole country. This had nothing to do with religion.”

His father seems to be obsessed by the political figure of Ashraf Ghani, who became president in September 2014. 

His father seems to be obsessed by the political figure of Ashraf Ghani, who became president in September 2014. 

In January that year, Mateen senior interviewed Ghani in Kabul about economic development and youth unemployment. In the video, Mateen appears to hold a favourable opinion on the future president. But later on he changed his opinion and in a 2015 video he declared his own candidacy for the Afghan presidency.  

Before the 12 June shooting, Seddique Mateen published a video on a Facebook page called Provisional Government of Afghanistan - Seddique Mateen, in which he seems to pretend to be the new Afghanistan's president and calls for the punishment of the "traitors".

"I wish a hero one day removes Ashraf Ghani's turban and slaps this crazy man," he said in the video. "This traitor has rolled up his sleeves to destroy our country."

Mateen also heads a non-profit organisation, The Durand Jirga Inc, as Florida incorporation documents show. The non-profit, which was formed in 2010, is registered at the same Port St. Lucie address where Omar appears to have lived.

In April 2016, the man shared on Facebook an image of what appeared to be an official State of Florida document certifying the incorporation of “Provisional Government of Afghanistan, Corporation.”

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.