More secrecy surrounds Mullah Mohammed Omar, head of Afghanistan's Taliban movement, than any other leader in the world. He has never been photographed in recent years nor given an interview.
He did, however, on October 14th, 1998, meet a United Nations delegation led by the UN diplomat, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi. I was present at that meeting.
The meeting took place against the background of serious tension between Iran and Afghanistan following the murder of 11 Iranian diplomats by maverick Taliban forces.
The talks with Mullah Omar were as cordial as past meetings with his representatives, and traditional plain seasonal Afghan hospitality was extended. Like most of the Taliban leadership, Mullah Omar, a well-built man of about six feet, bore the scars of battle, having lost his right eye in the jihad.
His handshake was weak, probably due to shyness and unease at having to deal with outsiders. But his gaze was direct from his one good eye. He came across as a sincere simple man who saw things as two-dimensional, right or wrong, black or white, and in terms limited by his understanding of the greater world outside Kandahar.
Mr Brahimi's remarks were translated by Mullah Omar's assistant and confidant, Mullah Wakil Ahmad. But a discussion went on between them before Mullah Omar gave his answer - as if he had had to check his response against the teaching of the Koran before he would reply.
In the end Mr Brahimi defused the Iran-Afghan problem as Mullah Omar agreed, among other things, to punish the culprits for the murders and release 26 Iranian truck drivers captured in Mazar.
One revealing issue arose as it had many times in the past: why did the UN not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan? The standard answer suggested the Taliban would have to conform to the international standard for human rights, particularly in relation to its treatment of women.
Apart from his extremely rare contact with westerners, Mullah Omar has become known as a reclusive leader accessible only to the inner Shura (Council) of the Taliban movement.
His authority comes from his title Amir-ul-Momineen (Leader of the Faithful), bestowed on him in 1996 by his fellow mullahs. This gives him almost papal authority over his followers.
Like most of the Taliban leadership, Mullah Omar's religious duties were interrupted by the war.
Born in 1959 into a humble family, he had left his madrassa in the Mewand district of Kandahar at the age of 30 to fight the communists. The conflict took place between 1989 and 1992.
The collapse of the communist government of Najibullah in 1992 saw the country fall into a state of anarchy as the mujahideen fought each other for power.
Mullah Omar's defining moment came in the spring of 1994 when he responded to a call from neighbours in his village near Kandahar. Two teenage girls had been abducted by a commander and carried off to his camp where they were repeatedly raped.
With 30 students of Islam, who armed themselves, he attacked the camp, captured the commander and hanged him from the barrel of a tank gun. With that action the Taliban movement was born.
Capt Peadar McElhinney retired from the Naval Service in September 1999. He was senior military adviser to the UN mission to Afghanistan in 1997-98.