Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
The only durable solution for peace in the Afghanistan lies in withdrawal of US forces and establishment of a non-aligned, independent and sovereign government by the Afghan representatives.
These suggestions were put forward by the veteran Afghan politician and Hizb-e-Islami’s supreme leader Engineer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar while addressing an event organized by Institute of Policy Studies.
The talk was held at the conclusion of the former warlord’s three-day visit to Pakistan on the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The forum was chaired by Executive President IPS Khalid Rahman and moderated by Ambassador (R) Syed Abrar Hussain. Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador (R) Muhammad Sadiq was also present on the occasion.
Hekmatyar said Afghans invested about $20 billion in other countries including Turkey and the Gulf states during the war. He suggested that Pakistan should facilitate Afghan investors and businessmen thus enabling them to bring their investment to Pakistan. The facilities he termed essential in this regard include permission to open bank accounts, buy property on the basis of Afghan passports and long-term visas like those provided by certain European countries.
The Afghan leader, who met the top-level leadership during his three-day visit to Pakistan, said he had held talks with Pakistani officials in this regard and was hopeful that it would be implemented soon.
Hekmatyar, who has twice served as Afghan prime minister in the 1990s, said it was the requirement of justice that those who have sacrificed for Afghanistan for so many years should have the right to govern the country now.
Afghan groups should have the opportunity to enter into negotiations with each other at a neutral venue. The discussion agenda would be withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan and an independent sovereign government. The other national issues such as constitution and type of government should be left for later after peace is restored. These are national issues and no external forces have the right to decide about these matters, he said.
He said the US has been defeated in Afghanistan without achieving any goals and considers the corrupt and incompetent Kabul government the main reason for its failure. It will be a mistake if the US now adopts another policy other than leaving Afghanistan, he added.
Hekmatyar said unfortunately some countries think a gap will be created once the US leaves Afghanistan which they will be able to fill. He hoped the Americans would not repeat the deadly mistake of the Soviets who established their puppet government in Kabul before leaving Afghanistan.
