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Karzai held secret talks with Hekmatyar
M A Kaiserimam
London—The Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai has been
involved in secret negotiations with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the former
Mujaheddin leader now labelled a terrorist by the US and Britain,
according to the “Independet”.
The Independent has learned that extensive talks have taken place
between President Karzai’s representatives and the Hekmatyar group
which has been responsible for a series of bloody attacks in
Afghanistan.
The revelation, from senior diplomatic sources, comes alongside a
report claiming that the President’s brother, Qayum Karzai, attended
a dinner in Saudi Arabia hosted by King Abdullah which was also
attended by members of the Taliban insurgency and the former
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Taliban’s former Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef told
BBC that a delegation of 15 Afghans attended the formal religious
dinner. The Saudis, once the chief financial backers of the Taliban,
have offered to be the conduit of talks between Islamist militants
and the Afghan government. Saudi and Afghan officials have denied,
however, that any serious direct talks took place at the dinner
meeting, maintaining that it was a religious and social occasion.
Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the former Taliban Foreign Minister who
attended, said “There were no talks and no Taliban representative
was there. It was an ordinary and normal meeting and dinner.” News
of the purported encounter between the Afghan government and
Islamist militants comes amid warnings by American and British
officials and senior military officers that a negotiated settlement
between the warring parties is the only practical solution to the
conflict.
The US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has criticised as “defeatist”
comments by Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the Commander of British
forces in Helmand, that a Western military victory was not possible.
But Mr Gates, who will ask America’s European partners to send more
troops to Afghanistan at a meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in
Budapest tomorrow, has also acknowledged that talks needed to be
held with Taliban leaders who were prepared to work with the Afghan
Government.
It is unclear whether the US would consider 61-year-old Hekmatyar,
the man they designated a ‘global terrorist’ and tried to kill in a
missile strike, to be one of those who should be offered
negotiations. As a Mujaheddin Commander against the Russians the
warlord received considerable support from the CIA and Pakistan’s
military regime.
In the civil war which followed the Russian withdrawal from the
country, Hekmatyar continued to be backed by the Americans and the
Pakistanis despite being blamed for atrocities such as the
indiscriminate shelling of the capital Kabul which killed and maimed
hundreds of civilians.
However Hekmatyar later fell out with the Americans and based
himself in Iran from where he directed attacks by his Hezb-I-Islami
fighters on NATO and government forces inside Afghanistan.
The Iranians eventually expelled Hekmatyar after pressure from the
US and he is now believed to be stationed in tribal areas across the
border in Pakistan.
According to diplomatic sources the Karzai government opened
channels to Hekmatyar through members of his family who visited
Kabul. Three months ago the warlord’s son-in-law, Dr Ghairat Baheer,
was released after spending six years in an Afghan prison and is
said to be playing a part in ongoing negotiations.
Although his forces are engaged in fighting inside Afghanistan,
Hekmatyar has remained independent from the Taliban and is said to
be at odds with its religious leader Mullah Omar. Some of President
Karzai’s advisors believe that a truce, in which he will be rewarded
by being given a government post, may encourage other militant
leaders to consider negotiations.
There are also doubts on whether the Saudis are actually in a
position to engineer a peace agreement. It is questionable how much
influence they continue to have over the Taliban who no longer
depend on official funding from the kingdom. Influential figures
within the Saudi ruling establishment who are believed to be
secretly funding Islamist movements are expected to continue doing
so whatever the outcome of the negotiation process.
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