Ghani, Hekmatyar to Sign Peace Agreement Tomorrow

After six months bargaining, the peace deal between President Ashraf Ghani and Hezb-e Islami party-led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar will be signed in a special ceremony  tomorrow, Thursday in Presidential Palace.

It is expected that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to stress on ending violence in Afghanistan through a video message.

Under the terms of the deal, Mr Hekmatyar agrees to accept the constitution and abandon violence.

“The agreement will be signed tomorrow between Ghani and Hekmatyar and by signing the deal, the practical process of removing sanctions on Hezb-e Islami will begin,” said Amin Karim, head of Hezb-e Islami delegation.

Representative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar believes that the finalization of this agreement will reduce war in Afghanistan.

“A large part of Taliban forces will be coming for peace in the upcoming weeks and months and we have special plans regarding the issue,” Amin Karim added.

In the meantime, the High Peace Council also emphasizes that the UN security council has committed to remove sanctions over Hezb-e Islami party.

“With the finalization of the peace agreement, the UN security council has committed to the Afghan government to remove sanctions on Hezb-e Islami party,” said Muhammad Amin Weqad, member of HPC.

On 18 May 2016, two delegations representing respectively the insurgent faction of Hezb-e Islami-ye Afghanistan and the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) initialed a draft peace agreement that should end Hezb’s armed struggle.

The government and some of its allies see the draft agreement as a possible blueprint for a peace accord with the Taliban—who so far have shown little interest.

The Afghan government has signed the peace agreement with Hezb-e-Islami, the country’s second largest militant group, on September 22 in the presence of media during a press conference.

While the military wing of the Hezb-e Islami led by Hekmatyar has been a largely dormant force in recent years and has little political relevance in Afghanistan, the deal with the government could be a template for any future deal with fundamentalist Taliban militants who have also fought Kabul’s authority.

Hezb-e Islami split up after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, with the political wing reconciling with Kabul while Hekmatyar joined with the Taliban to lead the insurgency.

Hekmatyar is among the most radical of the hard-line militants in Afghanistan’s recent past.

He founded Hezb-e Islami in the mid-1970s, and the group went on to become one of the main mujahedin factions fighting the Red Army after the Soviet invasion in 1979 before subsequently battling in the civil war for control of Kabul after Moscow pulled out.