In a step towards national reconciliation, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Monday met representatives of a major Taliban-linked insurgent group, a presidential spokesman said.
Deputy spokesman Hamed Elmi said a delegation from Hizb-i-Islami group, headed by an Afghan warlord and former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, had a meeting with Karzai here, but refused to give details of what was discussed.
But a member of the insurgent group said the meeting occurred Monday morning and that further talks were expected.
“I can confirm that a delegation of Hizb-i-Islami has arrived in Kabul with a plan and has met with the president,” the presidential spokesman Elmi said.
The Hekmatyar group delegation was led by Qutbudin Halal, who served as first deputy prime minister under President Burhanuddin Rabbani in the 1990s, and included Hekmatyar’s son-in-law.
Talking with the Taliban and other insurgent groups is gaining traction in Afghanistan, even as thousands of U.S. and NATO reinforcements are streaming in to reverse the insurgents’ momentum.
Besides finding ways to reconcile with insurgent leaders, the Afghan government is finalising a plan to use economic incentives to lure low-and mid-level fighters off the battlefield. Regional countries such as Pakistan, India and Iran have begun staking out positions as the eight-year conflict nears an endgame.
Officials of the group, whose fighters operate in the east and north of the country, said the delegation brought a 15-point peace plan, which calls for all foreign troops to leave Afghanistan within six months beginning in July, a full year before President Barack Obama would begin removing U.S. forces.
The plan also calls for the current Afghan parliament to serve through December. After that, the parliament would be replaced by an interim government, or shura, which would hold local and national elections within a year. A new Afghan constitution would be written, merging the current version with ones used earlier.
“Foreign fighters will not stay in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of foreign troops,” according to a version sent by e-mail by a Hizb-i-Islami official.
Harun Zarghun, chief spokesman for Hizb-i-Islami, said the delegation also hopes to meet with Taliban leaders somewhere in Afghanistan. The U.S. Embassy, however, said there would be no meetings with U.S. officials.
