Elusive Afghan peace: Hizb-e-Islami agrees to join quartet-sponsored talks
Pressure mounts but Taliban refuse to drop preconditions
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The second largest Afghan resistance group, led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has formally decided to enter peace negotiations with the administration of President Ashraf Ghani, as pressure mounts on the Taliban to give up their preconditions for talks.
Qazi Muhammad Hakim Hakim, the head of Hizb-e-Islami’s central council, confirmed to The Express Tribune that Hekmatyar has given the nod for joining peace talks. Qazi Hakim and Dr Ghairat Baheer, the head of Hizb’s political affairs, will represent the group in the talks.
Last month, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), which is made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, invited Taliban groups to join direct talks with the Afghan government by the first week of March. Pakistan was to host the unprecedented meeting that did not materialise. Hakim said the HIA would join the quartet-sponsored peace talks.
The Taliban have rejected the quartet initiative as ‘futile and misleading’. The group says it will not join any peace process until foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan; travel restrictions on their leaders are lifted; and ‘innocent prisoners’ are released. Nonetheless, Afghan sources say efforts are ongoing to soften the Taliban up for talks.
A senior leader of the Northern Alliance, Amrullah Saleh, said Hizb’s acquiescence meant nothing for the peace process. “Big mistake to bet peace on him [Hekmatyar],” said Saleh.
The Hizb announcement has rekindled faint hopes for reconciliation but analysts believe if the Taliban refuse to budge, they could face problems because the quartet has vowed to take action against ‘irreconcilable’ elements.
The Hizb condemned a recent US decision to add two of its leaders to a list of global terrorists. The Department of State designated Abdullah Nowbahar and Abdul Saboor as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and announced a reward of up to $3 million for information on Saboor and up to $2 million on Nowbahar.
“The Afghan government has invited the Hizb-e-Islami to peace talks, but the US added two of our members to its blacklist. Announcing bounties on our members shows that American officials neither want to stop the war nor end the occupation of Afghanistan,” it added.
Some dissident Taliban leaders favour talks and are critical of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor’s hardline stance, a leader who had been part of previous negotiations told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
Taliban sources, meanwhile, said some ‘prominent leaders have shifted to Afghanistan’ on the advice of Mullah Mansoor when pressure started mounting on them to join peace talks.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2016.
“The Hizb-e- Islami is ready to participate in peace talks on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani. We want to tell our nation that the Hizb-e-Islami desires peace, but the United States and some circles in Afghanistan linked to the US want continuation of war,” the group said in a Pashto-language statement emailed to the media on Sunday.
“Several Afghan officials averse to reconciliation consider the process as a threat as it would endanger the powers and privileges they have received from the invaders,” it added.
The second largest Afghan resistance group, led by former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has formally decided to enter peace negotiations with the administration of President Ashraf Ghani, as pressure mounts on the Taliban to give up their preconditions for talks.
Qazi Muhammad Hakim Hakim, the head of Hizb-e-Islami’s central council, confirmed to The Express Tribune that Hekmatyar has given the nod for joining peace talks. Qazi Hakim and Dr Ghairat Baheer, the head of Hizb’s political affairs, will represent the group in the talks.
Last month, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), which is made up of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, invited Taliban groups to join direct talks with the Afghan government by the first week of March. Pakistan was to host the unprecedented meeting that did not materialise. Hakim said the HIA would join the quartet-sponsored peace talks.
The Taliban have rejected the quartet initiative as ‘futile and misleading’. The group says it will not join any peace process until foreign forces withdraw from Afghanistan; travel restrictions on their leaders are lifted; and ‘innocent prisoners’ are released. Nonetheless, Afghan sources say efforts are ongoing to soften the Taliban up for talks.
A senior leader of the Northern Alliance, Amrullah Saleh, said Hizb’s acquiescence meant nothing for the peace process. “Big mistake to bet peace on him [Hekmatyar],” said Saleh.
The Hizb announcement has rekindled faint hopes for reconciliation but analysts believe if the Taliban refuse to budge, they could face problems because the quartet has vowed to take action against ‘irreconcilable’ elements.
The Hizb condemned a recent US decision to add two of its leaders to a list of global terrorists. The Department of State designated Abdullah Nowbahar and Abdul Saboor as Specially Designated Global Terrorists and announced a reward of up to $3 million for information on Saboor and up to $2 million on Nowbahar.
“The Afghan government has invited the Hizb-e-Islami to peace talks, but the US added two of our members to its blacklist. Announcing bounties on our members shows that American officials neither want to stop the war nor end the occupation of Afghanistan,” it added.
Some dissident Taliban leaders favour talks and are critical of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor’s hardline stance, a leader who had been part of previous negotiations told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
Taliban sources, meanwhile, said some ‘prominent leaders have shifted to Afghanistan’ on the advice of Mullah Mansoor when pressure started mounting on them to join peace talks.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2016.
“The Hizb-e- Islami is ready to participate in peace talks on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani. We want to tell our nation that the Hizb-e-Islami desires peace, but the United States and some circles in Afghanistan linked to the US want continuation of war,” the group said in a Pashto-language statement emailed to the media on Sunday.
“Several Afghan officials averse to reconciliation consider the process as a threat as it would endanger the powers and privileges they have received from the invaders,” it added.