Alwaght- A draft peace accord has been signed between the Afghan national unity government and the country’s Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin insurgent group with a mediation of Afghan High Peace Council.
The First Deputy of Chief Executive of Afghanistan Engineer Mohammad Mohammad Khan said in a press conference on Wednesday May 17 that a peace accord was signed by the representatives of the government and Hezb-e Islami, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. But he said that the deal was just an initial step.
The agreement is arranged in three general chapters and 25 articles. The first chapter deals with principles, the second chapter is about the two sides’ responsibilities and the third one is about miscellaneous matters, according to Mohammad Khan.
So far, Hizb-e Islami has visited Kabul 20 times with certain peace plans in hand. It talked peace with the Afghan government, and this agreement is considered as the last step in a series of moves set to be taken later on.
Hizb-e Islamic has made a couple of demands to go ahead with peace process, including removing name of its leader and other members from the UN terror blacklist, allowing return of the party’s members from abroad, setting free the prisoners of the party, consulting with the leadership of Hizb-e Islamic on significant political issues and granting immunity to the members of the party.
It is predicted that the UN would remove name of Hizb-e Islami’s leader and other members from its blacklist at the behest of the Afghan government.
The agreement says that Afghanistan’s government and Hizb-e Islami would welcome exit of foreign forces from the country according to the deals reached between Kabul and the foreign sides. However, there is no word in the agreement signifying an obligatory withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
The peace negotiations between the national unity government of Afghanistan and Hezb-e Islami are set for finalization in some coming days after both sides agreed on the initial steps.
Some international sides like the US have welcomed the deal to start peace negotiations between the government and Hezb-e Islami, advising that to end the war in the country all conflicting sides should take part in the peace talks. The Spokesman for the US Department of State John Kirby has made a media briefing, emphasizing that Washington would support peace negotiations which are directed and managed by Afghans themselves to end the clashes in the country. He called on all of the relevant sides of war in Afghanistan to be included in the political dialogue. “Hizb-e Islami is not an exception,” continued Kirby. The State Department spokesman also said that the Afghans should have the possibility to talk directly to each other to make decisions on their country’s future.
The Chief Executive of Government of Afghanistan Abdulllah Abdullah has commented on the draft accord in an interview with the BBC. He said that he was ready to sit on the same dinner table with Hekmatyar Gulbuddin all for the sake of Afghanistan’s national interests. Abdullah added that the Afghan people would welcome peace dialogue with Hizb-e Islami should it gives favorable results.
The peace negotiations with Hekmatyar and a possible agreement between him and the government perhaps leave not much influence on the country's conditions, but the reality is that some differences of government with internal groups could be solved through dialogue, and national convergence could also be reached. Moreover, the accord could present a pattern for other terrorist groups as they could take cue from Hekmatyar and return to peace process. It is worth mentioning that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a notorious warlord who got engaged in many civil battles following fall of Taliban rule in 2001. The Hekmatyar-led Hizb-e Islami earlier like Taliban group had demanded exit of foreign forces from Afghanistan before he decided to join the Afghan peace negotiations with the government.
Now that the Afghan government says very soon it would reach comprehensive agreement with Hekmatyar, there must be a focus on the influences of Hezb-e Islami's joining the peace process on the security situation in the country. The fact is that even if it is assumed that Hekmatyar fully reconciles with the government and gets share in power, the war would not end in the country.
It is a bit dubious that the national unity government does its best, in the very chaotic conditions of the country and under external pressures, to make a deal with the Hizb-e Islami. The Afghans could wonder what significant changes the agreement with Hekmatyar, who would certainly be given concessions, could bring forth for the country.
The major problem is the Taliban which is supported by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The national unity government must focus on the emerging ISIS terror group as well as Taliban, rather than wasting its potentials on negotiations with Hizb-e Islami.
Why should not Islamabad stop supporting Afghanistan's Taliban on its soil financially and militarily? According to the evidences, Pakistan is largely profiting from the anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, and so it is not ready to forsake such a huge source of interests. For example, the US is set to deliver to Islamabad eight fighter jets. Although the delivery process has suffered some problems, at the end of the road they would be delivered to Pakistan.
The US is an ally of both Pakistan and Afghanistan, but surely it values Islamabad more than Kabul. It is crystal clear that Pakistan would not easily quit support for Taliban militants. In fact, the US provides ISI with military equipment and money, and on the other side, Taliban is backed militarily and financially by the Pakistani intelligence services.
In such a mixed situation, the Afghan government should concentrate on more essential issues including Taliban and its regional and international backers.
In a time that Hekmatyar is experiencing his most isolated days, it is not that much important whether Hizb-e Islami joins the national unity government or not.
The Afghan officials should not forget that Hekmatyar is a very good bargainer. The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah should be careful not to get double-crossed by a US-Hekmatyar alliance.
