Karzai holds peace talks with Hekmatyar group

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Afghan president’s spokesman says Karzai studying peace plan presented by Hezb-e-Islami
* Hezb’s spokesman encourages Taliban to pursue peace talks

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met delegates from Afghanistan’s second-biggest militant group and is studying their peace proposals, his spokesman said on Monday.

Hezb-e-Islami is headed by warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is black-listed as a terrorist by the United Nations and the United States. The latter accuses him of taking part in and supporting attacks by al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Karzai has been pursuing peace talks in the hope of ending the crippling insurgency led by the Taliban, while the United States implements a troop surge designed to weaken the militants.

Hezb-e-Islami had said it would only hold peace talks with Karzai’s government once all foreign forces had quit Afghan soil. The latest move could thus be seen as an early success in the president’s reconciliation efforts.

“I confirm that a meeting between the Hezb-e-Islami delegation and the president took place a couple of days back,” presidential spokesman Waheed Omar told AFP.

“They brought with them a peace plan, a proposal, and the president is studying it,” he said, confirming that the president had yet to respond to the plan.

The US State Department designated Hekmatyar, a former prime minister, as a terrorist in 2003, accusing him of taking part in and supporting al Qaeda and Taliban attacks.

Hezb-e-Islami’s spokesman Haroon Zarghon told AFP that the delegation of senior members handed Karzai a 15-point document they hoped would form the basis of peace talks.

Of the 15 points, “one of them is to set a clear timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces and another the formation of an interim administration”, Zarghon said by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The delegation currently in Kabul is headed by Qutbuddin Helal, Hekmatyar’s deputy and also a former prime minister, Qaribul Rehman Sayeed, Ghairat Baheer and other prominent figures who formed Hezb-e-Islami, Zarghon said.

Talks: He said Hezb-e-Islami would “for Afghanistan’s well-being and prosperity” also encourage the Taliban to pursue peace negotiations. afp

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2010_pg1_1