Karzai-Hekmatyar talks: Why now?
 
Abdulhadi Hairan
 
On 21st March 2010, the spokesmen for both the Afghan government and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-e-Islami (HIA) militant group confirmed that a delegation from Hizb had been sent to assume peace talks with President Karzai.  The delegation was led by Qutbuddin Hilal, a close aide to Hekmatyar, and included Daud Abidi, Amin Karim, Qarib-ur-Rahman Saeed, and Hekmatyar’s son-in-law Dr. Ghairat Baheer. While in Kabul, the delegation met many Afghan and foreign officials and presented their 15-point peace plan which reportedly included the withdrawal of foreign troops in the following six months, starting from July 2010. On April 2nd, the delegation reported that the first phase of the talks had been concluded, though no progress on the plan was reported. (Full Artical,file type (Pdf) 123 KB)