|
President Ghani and Hekmatyar Sign Peace Deal
[Asharq al-Aswat] The President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani ...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..signed a peace deal with one of the country’s most notorious warlords  Gulbuddin Hekmatyar... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the Worldbut who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... yesterday. This is considered the final step before the implementation of an immediate cease-fire. Ghani, surrounded by hundreds of Afghan officials and former warlords, signed an agreement paving the way for the Hezb-e-Islami, a faction led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, to take an active role in political life. Despite his reverberating speeches about unity, Hekmatyar did not attend the signing but rather signed the agreement on Thursday via a video link into Kabul ...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either.... ’s presidential palace. The ceremony was broadcast live on television and was attended by high ranking representatives of the government and members of the Hezb-e-Islami group that Hekmatyar belongs to. The rebel group, which is the largest in the country, opposes international military intervention in Afghanistan and has fought international forces and the Afghan government since the US-led invasion in 2001. One of the Hezb-e-Islami’s conditions for signing the peace agreement was that all foreign forces leave the country. The agreement stipulates that foreign forces must leave the country according to a "reasonable schedule". According to the agreement, which the German Press Agency (DPA) obtained a copy of, the Hezb-e-Islami’s agreement with the Afghan government provides immunity from prosecution for all members of the group, and the Afghan government must release imprisoned members of the Hezb-e-Islami within two months. Posted by: Fred 2016-10-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=469042 |