The High Peace Council (HPC) said on Monday that a peace agreement with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami party will be signed this week.
They said that once the agreement has been signed the National Unity Government (NUG) will pave the way for Hekmatyar to return to Kabul.
Meanwhile, the CEO Abdullah Abdullah, said government will implement the peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami once it has been signed.
Details of the peace agreement with Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami party are not yet known, but the HPC said the agreement’s articles have been finalized and the accord will be signed soon.
Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad, a member of the HPC, said that the presidential palace will appoint a commission to provide the context to pave the way for Hekmatyar to return to Kabul.
“President (Ashraf) Ghani ordered or will order a commission to make preparations and decide whether Hekmatyar should come over land or by air and it also should decide about his house, office and security,” said Waqad.
Hekmatyar’s name is listed on the United Nations’ black list, but Qazi Waqad said the National Security Council (NSC) requested government to finalize peace talks with Hezb-e-Islami.
“The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) had a meeting on the 16th of September and their message to Afghanistan was that first President Ghani and Abdullah should resolve their tensions and second the NUG should continue peace talks with Hezb-e-Islami,” said Waqad.
Moreover, the CEO’s office said they do not have concerns about talking with any anti-government groups.
“We are not concerned about talks with any groups. We pursued these talks from the beginning, because it is for the benefit of the Afghan people,” Abdullah said.
Hezb-e-Islami have said that nothing has been changed in the articles of the agreement written up a few months ago, but it is said that in the new agreement, privileges have been given to Hezb-e-Islami but details have not been released.
“People need to know with whom and why government negotiates. They need to know the details of the talks,” said Faqir Mohammad, a political analyst.
“The agreement with Hezb-e-Islami has changed many times. Signing the agreement will pave the way for further discussions,” said Tofan Waziri, a political analyst.
Peace talks with Hekmatyar started two years ago, but talks with Taliban started during Hamid Karzai’s presidency.
The HPC was established six years ago under Karzai, however, it is said that this council has not had made any important achievement in the way of peace talks with Taliban.
The HPC’s former chief Burhannudin Rabbani was killed in a suicide attack carried out by the Taliban
Furthermore, the HPC said it will start peace talks with Taliban upon the completion of the peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami. http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/27342-peace-agreement-to-be-signed-with-hezb-e-islami
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