WARLORD-IN-CHIEF? 'Mentor' of 9/11 mastermind to run for Afghan president

The former Islamist warlord who was named in the 9/11 commission report as being the “mentor” of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- the mastermind of the attacks -- has announced his candidacy for the presidency of Afghanistan.

Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, 67, drove through Kabul on Thursday in a motorcade flanked by heavily-armed ex-fighters to register for the April 2014 election, The Telegraph reports.

"We will move to unite Afghanistan. If the nation is together and has the same voice, problems can be solved," Sayyaf said, according to the Associated Press.

Sayyef had to resign his position as an Afghan lawmaker before he registered for the presidential race, but decades ago he battled the Soviet’s occupation of the country and ran militant training camps.

He met former Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden at one of the camps and is believed to have invited him to stay in Afghanistan when bin Laden was expelled from Sudan in 1996, The Telegraph reports.

Sayyaf also fought in Afghanistan's civil war from 1992 until the Taliban takeover in 1996, fighting on the side of the Northern Alliance against the Taliban.

Another former warlord, former energy and water minister Ismail Khan, will run as Sayyaf's first vice-president, and a little-known member of Afghanistan's upper house, Abdul Wahab Irfan, as second vice president.

Registration expires Oct. 6, and four presidential candidates and their respective vice-presidents have signed up so far.

The most prominent is former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who was the runner-up to President Hamid Karzai in the 2009 elections and dropped out just ahead of a runoff vote following allegations of massive fraud in the first round.

Karzai can't run for a third consecutive term and has not yet endorsed anyone. There are no clear favorites, but speculation in recent days has focused on Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul, who may wind up as a consensus candidate, and Karzai's older brother Quayum, who is a businessman and politician.

Billions of dollars in funds pledged to Afghanistan are tied to the government's holding transparent and credible elections, a challenge in a country rife with patronage and corruption and a resilient Taliban insurgency. The Taliban have asked people not to vote and do not recognize the election process.

Karzai's failure so far to sign a security deal with the United States and his apparent reluctance to do so until the elections also looms over the campaigns.

After nearly a year of negotiations, the United States wants a deal by October to give American and NATO military planners enough time to prepare to keep some troops in the country instead of a total pullout by end of next year. If the U.S. does not sign the deal, it is unlikely that NATO or any of its allies will keep troops in Afghanistan after 2014.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.