The Foreign Minister of Afghanistan during the World Trade Center crisis of September 11, 2001.
Mutawakkel is important in that he was the first Afghan official to publicly react to the crisis on American television. A news conference was convened at about noon Central Time in which he, as a representative of the government of Afghanistan, expressed sadness and horror over the destruction of the World Trade Center. Furthermore, Mutawakkel denied any involvement on the part of both Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden. Although presumably not a spokesman for bin Laden, Mutawakkel was confident enough to comment on the alleged terrorist's actions because, in his (translated) words,
"We in Afghanistan do not allow Osama bin Laden to use Afghan territory to launch any attack on any government around the world."
Quote provided by CNN.com, <http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/america.under.attack/index.html>.