Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed a peace treaty with a notorious warlord today, pledging to lobby the US and the United Nations to remove him and his party from terrorist blacklists.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar signed the agreement via a video link into Kabul’s presidential palace. The ceremony was broadcast live on television.
It is the first peace treaty the Afghan government has completed since the war with the Taliban began in 2001.
It has been welcomed by the international community as a possible template for any future peace deal with the Taliban, who have been fighting to overthrow the Kabul Government for 15 years.
Once international sanctions are lifted, Hekmatyar is expected to return to Afghanistan after 20 years in exile. He is believed to be in Pakistan.
The head of his delegation in Kabul, Amin Karim, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he believes the sanctions could be lifted within weeks. Hekmatyar’s party, Hezb-i-Islami Gulbuddin, is listed by the United Nations as a foreign terrorist organisation.
