ISLAMABAD – Eager to accelerate the peace process, top-level U.S. officials have held talks with a representative of an insurgent movement led by a former Afghan prime minister who has been branded a terrorist by Washington, a relative of the rebel leader says.
Dr. Ghairat Baheer, a representative and son-in-law of longtime Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, said last week that he had met separately with David Petraeus, former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who is now CIA director, and had face-to-face discussions earlier this month with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Marine Gen. John Allen, currently the top commander in the country.
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EXPLORATORY TALKS
Baheer, who was released in 2008 after six years in U.S. detention at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, described his talks with U.S. officials as nascent and exploratory.
Yet Baheer says the discussions show that the United States knows that in addition to getting the blessing of Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar — a bitter rival of Hekmatyar, even though both are fighting international troops — any peace deal would have to be supported by Hekmatyar, who has thousands of fighters and followers primarily in the north and east.
Hizb-i-Islami, which means “Islamic party,” has had ties to al-Qaida. In 2010, however, Hizb-i-Islami floated a 15-point peace plan during informal meetings with the Afghan government in Kabul. At the time, U.S. officials refused to see the party’s delegation.
“Hizb-i-Islami is a reality that no one can ignore,” Baheer said during an interview last week at his home in a posh suburb of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. “For a while, the United States and the Kabul government tried not to give so much importance to Hizb-i-Islami, but now they have come to the conclusion that they cannot make it without Hizb-i-Islami.”
In Washington, National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden would not confirm that such meetings took place but said the United States was maintaining “a range of contacts in support of an Afghan-led reconciliation process.”
KARZAI WEIGHS IN
A U.S. official said Petraeus last met with Baheer in July 2011 when he was still commanding NATO forces in Afghanistan. Petraeus took over as CIA director in September.
On Saturday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he also had met recently with Hizb-i-Islami representatives. Baheer said he attended those meetings but added that the party considers the Afghan government corrupt and lacking legitimacy.
Karzai’s announcement appeared intended to bolster his position as the key player in the search for peace. The United States repeatedly has said that formal negotiations must be Afghan-led, but Karzai has complained that his government has not been directly involved in recent preliminary talks with Taliban representatives and plans for setting up a Taliban political office in the Gulf state of Qatar.
Baheer said his meeting with Petraeus, whom he described as a “very humble, polite person,” was marked by a few rounds of verbal sparring with each boasting a battlefield strength that the other dismissed as exaggerated.
WANTS FOREIGNERS OUT
Baheer said Crocker and Allen tried to persuade Hizb-i-Islami to become part of Afghanistan’s political network, accept the Afghan security forces and embrace the nation’s current constitution.
He said Hizb-i-Islami was ready to accept the security forces and the constitution, but wants a multiparty commission established to review and revise the charter.
“We are willing to make compromises,” Baheer said. “We already have said we will accept the Afghan army and the police.”
He said Hizb-i-Islami envisioned a multiparty government in postwar Afghanistan. At the same time, the group wants all U.S. and NATO forces, including military trainers, to leave Afghanistan, he said.
“The presence of any foreign forces will be not acceptable to us under any cover,” he said. “Daily, there is another American killing of civilians. The longer they stay, the more they are hated by the Afghan people.”
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