Notorious Afghan warlord calls for peace in first public speech
U.S. has labelled Gulbuddin Hekmatyar a 'global terrorist'
One of Afghanistan's most notorious warlords appeared in public for the first time in more than 20 years on Saturday and called for peace.
"I invite you to join the peace caravan and stop the pointless, meaningless and unholy war," Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who the leads the Islamist organization Hezb-e-Islami, said to a gathering of his followers and Afghan politicians in Laghman province, east of the capital, Kabul.
It was his first public speech since signing a peace deal with the Afghan government.
I want a free, proud, independent and Islamic Afghanistan.- Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
As part of the deal, the United Nations Security Council agreed to remove Hekmatyar's name from its ISIS and al-Qaeda sanctions list in February, and his assets were unfrozen. He is also no longer subject to a travel ban or arms embargo.
During his remarks, Hekmatyar called on all insurgent groups to end the war and join the peace process in Afghanistan. He said only Afghans could bring peace and stability to the country, not foreigners.
"I want a free, proud, independent and Islamic Afghanistan," he said on Saturday.
During his days as a warlord, Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami forces were largely confined to two provinces and they have carried out few attacks in recent years.
Hekmatyar's hideout over the years was unknown, but he was thought to be somewhere in eastern Kunar province, where he enjoyed popular support, and made occasional trips into Pakistan.
As a politician, Hekmatyar espoused radical Islam and served twice as Afghan prime minister during the civil war.
The 25-point peace agreement gives Hekmatyar and his followers immunity for past actions and grants them full political rights.
'Global terrorist'
The deal has been criticized by some Afghans and human rights groups for the pardon it granted to Hekmatyar and many of his fighters.
Hekmatyar's return "will compound the culture of impunity," Human Rights Watch researcher Patricia Gossman said of the deal, calling it an "affront" to victims of abuses.
A controversial figure from the insurgency against the Soviets in the 1980s and the civil wars of the 1990s, Hekmatyar is accused of ordering his fighters to bombard Kabul, leading to many casualties, besides other abuses.
His faction of Hezb-i-Islami has played a relatively small role in the current conflict, in which the Taliban have a leading role in battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.
In hiding for nearly a decade and a half, Hekmatyar had been designated a "global terrorist" by the U.S., which has been leading an international military mission in Afghanistan for the past 15 years.
American and other Western leaders praised the deal with him, however, hoping it could help lead to wider peace in Afghanistan.
With files from The Associated Press