Ghani, Hekmatyar Sign Peace Agreement

President Ashraf Ghani signed the peace deal with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar at Kabul’s presidential palace during a ceremony broadcast live on television on Thursday.

The warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar called for peace as he appeared by video to sign a deal with President Ashraf Ghani, marking a symbolic victory in Kabul’s struggle to revive talks with the Taliban.

The long delayed, elusive agreement between the government of Afghanistan and notorious warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has been signed.

The signing of the accord culminates what has been a seven month effort by Ashraf Ghani’s government to reincorporate Hekmaytar’s Hezb-i-Islami (HIG) faction with the central government.

Signing of the deal has been welcomed by the international community as a possible template for any future peace deal with the Taliban, who have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul government for 15 years.

“Now is the time for the Taliban to think about whether they want to continue the war or come for peace,” Ghani said as he signed the deal at the presidential palace in Kabul.

Hekmatyar offered his congratulations to the government and “all those Afghans who want peace and stability in the region” as he signed a copy of the deal via video link.

“I pray that our country be independent and sovereign, and our innocent and war-weary nation end the fighting and ongoing insecurity, and that unity prevails,” he said.

He reiterated his calls for an end to “foreign interference” and for all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan.

Security was tight in the capital, with the road to the palace blocked. Chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, former president Hamid Karzai, delegates from Hezb-i-Islami and other politicians also attended the ceremony.

Some analysts believe the peace agreement between the Ghani administration and HIG will serve as a template for future Taliban negotiations; a possible carrot approach to bringing the elusive group back to the negotiating table after talks were stalled when rumors of Mullah Omar’s death surfaced late last July.

However, not all groups appear satisfied with the recent accords. Some view the terms of the agreement as amnesty for a group and a warlord that have caused considerable suffering and numerous human rights violations throughout Afghanistan’s decades long conflict.

Hekmatyar was a notorious warlord and famed mujahideen commander during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan during the 1980s. His group, Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG), was a favorite of the anti-Soviet factions, and received considerable backing and financial support from the United States and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Hekmatyar trained guerrilla fighters in the refugee camps of Shamshatoo and Jalozai in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).