Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar first rose to prominence in Afghanistan during the 1970s when he founded Hezb-e-Islami, which means “The Islamic Party.”

Despite its origins in university student groups, Hekmatyar’s organization soon became known as one of the major Afghan guerrilla factions, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

During the next decade, the United States spent billions of dollars in covert assistance to fight the Soviet forces.  U.S. officials funneled the money through Pakistan’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence, and the lion’s share went to Hekmatyar.

The ISI director general in the 1980s, Hamid Gul, says he knows Hekmatyar well.  He told me the ethnic-Pashtun mujahideen leader, who originally studied in the university to become an engineer, was an important asset for both the United States and Pakistan at the time. 

But Gul says Hekmatyar was always an outspoken critic of the United States.  He says it is Hekmatyar’s nature that is probably urging him now to negotiate with the current Afghan government for a share in the post-U.S.-invasion Afghanistan.

“He is very ambitious, and that is probably his undoing,” said Hamid Gul. “I mean, he is politically very, very ambitious; there is no doubt about it.  He has a charismatic personality, and his Hezb-e-Islami is a very well-organized force, and I think he could still draw a lot of loyalists.”

But the director of the Kabul-based Afghan Rights Monitor, Ajmal Samadi, has a less flattering recollection of the militant leader.  After the Soviets withdrew and the U.S. support for Afghan guerillas dried up, Hekmatyar’s fighters battled with other rebel factions in Kabul for control of the country.

Samadi describes how Hekmatyar solidified a reputation as a ruthless warlord.

“Forces under his command were accused of very, very appalling crimes, for instance: the rape of women, the use of child soldiers, sexual exploitation of children, shelling civilian-populated areas, blockading the city and denying people access to essential services,” said Ajmal Samadi.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar briefly served as Afghanistan’s prime minister in the 1990s.  But when his rival Mullah Mohammad Omar seized control of the government in 1996 with his Taliban fighters, Hekmatyar fled to Iran.

He apparently left that country sometime after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.  Soon after, Hekmatyar announced his support for his former rivals, the Taliban, and his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The United States targeted Hekmatyar with a drone missile strike in 2002, but missed.  U.S. officials labeled the Hezb-e-Islami leader a terrorist the following year, saying he participated in and supported terrorist acts committed by al-Qaida and the Taliban.

In recent years, analysts believe Hekmatyar has been living in Pakistan while directing his fighters in operations against coalition and Afghan troops in eastern and northern Afghanistan.

Speaking from Kabul, the director of Afghanistan’s Center for Research and Policy Studies, Haroun Mir, says Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s desire to reconcile with the Taliban is most likely making Hekmatyar consider shifting his alliances, as he has done many times in the past.

“Hekmatyar is keen to reach out to Kabul and find a negotiation because he knows that he could not enjoy the kind of support the Taliban receive from Pakistan and al-Qaida,” said Haroun Mir.

He points to the fact that earlier this month, a firefight erupted between some of Hekmatyar’s fighters and the Afghan Taliban, killing about 50 people.  It is unclear what caused the fight, but Mir says if the Taliban and Afghan government reach an agreement, Hekmatyar might be sidelined.

Daoud Sultanzoy is a member of the Afghan Parliament.  He told me that Hekmatyar appears to have more of a willingness to negotiate than the Taliban.

“The Taliban are saying one of the conditions is the removal of foreign troops and they will not accept the constitution of Afghanistan, but Mr. Hekmatyar or at least his aides are saying that they are prepared to sit down and talk about these things,” said Daoud Sultanzoy.

U.S. officials cautiously welcomed talks this week between President Karzai and the Hezb-e-Islami delegation.  But they stressed that any groups involved in peace talks must renounce violence and support for the insurgency, live in accordance with the Afghan constitution and sever any ties with al-Qaida and other terrorist networks.

It is unclear whether Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is prepared to do all those things, but at the very least, analysts say he is willing to talk.  At the same time, there is a fear that his violent reputation against Afghan civilians could undermine the Karzai administration.

What do you think?  Are peace talks with Hekmatyar in the best interest for Afghanistan?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FY6zWzxWpw

My interview with Edhi — who is known in some quarters for his humanitarian works as Pakistan’s “Father Teresa” — occurred a few weeks after the earthquake struck Haiti.  I spoke to him by phone today to see if his wait for visas was over.  It isn’t.

Initially, Edhi had gone to the Cuban Embassy in Islamabad to get visas for himself and his fellow team members.  However, he said Cuban officials denied their requests because the U.S. military is managing the traffic in and out of Haiti’s main ports of entry.

Edhi then went to the U.S. Embassy.  He has a permanent Green Card for the United States, but his team members do not.  Today, Edhi said he is frustrated because U.S. officials gave him the impression that his team would not receive any visas for at least six months.

The United States has tightened restrictions on issuing visas during the past few years.  In addition, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman told me today that humanitarian efforts are not given any special consideration, and everyone has to go through the same process.

So as it stands, there is at least a million dollars and a team of workers with quake experience on stand by, half-a-world away.

What do you think?  I’d love to read your comments below about your views on the situation.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBiJJP6znJs

We also discussed a point that Shaikh says international debates are not covering enough: the Pakistan-India dynamic.

The two nuclear powers have fought three wars against each other over the years.  Now, India is a major donor in Afghanistan, and Shaikh says Pakistani officials suspect India has strengthened its influence in the war-torn country.

The former foreign secretary also says Pakistanis worry that there is a shortage of troops on their eastern border.

A large number of the Pakistani army’s fighting force is now concentrated in the country’s western regions battling Taliban militants.  Shaikh says that if the United States had its way, more Pakistani troops would battle along that border, especially in the North Waziristan tribal area where Jalaluddin Haqqani’s Taliban network is centered.

Coalition commanders say the Haqqani network is a major cause of instability in eastern Afghanistan.  These Taliban fighters fled Afghanistan following the U.S.-led invasion, and now operate largely with impunity from the Pakistani military.

I asked Shaikh if Pakistan views the Haqqani network as a strategic asset in Afghanistan in order to counterbalance India’s influence.

Shaikh replied that Jalaluddin Haqqani was “the most capable commander by my reckoning in the resistance against the Soviets and was certainly someone that the Americans talked to in the aftermath of 9/11.”  He added that the fighting situation could make for “strange bedfellows” if the future of the Haqqani network remains at the forefront of Pakistan’s relationships with Afghanistan and the United States.

Maroney Interview with Mohammad Yasin Osmani

In American parlance, Osmani is Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s “Corruption Czar.”  He is responsible for overseeing the fight against corruption in the Afghan government.

It is a daunting task.  Osmani’s office is less than a year old, and he says it is only 30-percent staffed.  It also is at the center of a storm of international criticism.

I asked him about a recent article in The Times of London, which quoted Afghan officials as saying U.S. President Barack Obama gave Mr. Karzai six months to address corruption or risk losing American support.  Osmani would not comment on the specifics of the article, but he agreed with the six-month time frame for reducing corruption.

He says that within that time, Afghan ministers must examine all their employees to determine if they were hired on the basis of merit or cronyism.

We spoke at length about how his office does not have the authority to investigate or prosecute, it can only “oversee” the strategy to fight corruption.  But he said that with the assistance of Afghanistan’s international partners, including the U.S. Department of Justice, his office has helped draft a new law that would grant it more power in the process.

I asked him about British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s comments this week about the Afghan government.  English may not be Osmani’s first language, but I did detect a strong hint of sarcasm when he said that he was “so happy that [Afghanistan's] international partners are so keen to bring this up.”  He said fighting corruption is a complicated process, especially when Afghanistan still lacks a comprehensive legal code.  But he said there have been some successes.

Osmani told me how Afghan officials have prevented about $200 million in corruption after simplifying the process for registering a vehicle.  The process originally took about a month and up to 20,000 Afghanis — roughly $400 — in bribes to register.  Now, Osmani says the process takes two days and no money.

Osmani says he is committed to uncovering corruption at all levels of Afghanistan’s government, despite the risks.  And after looking at the country’s recent history, including the past presidential election, he certainly has his work cut out for him.