Afghanistan Signs Accord With Notorious Warlord

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was named by the U.S. in 2003 as a ‘global terrorist’.

The Afghan government signed a peace agreement Thursday with one of the country’s most notorious warlords, a largely symbolic deal aimed at coaxing the Taliban and other militant groups to sign similar accords.

The warlord, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who was designated a “global terrorist” by the U.S. in 2003, wasn’t present at the signing ceremony in the capital Kabul. His chief negotiator signed for him and Hezb-e Islami, the Islamist political and military group he founded.

Months in the making, the deal has been a major focus of Afghan government efforts to map out a path to peace with the country’s numerous insurgent group since attempts to restart talks with the Taliban collapsed early this year.

Under the agreement, Mr. Hekmatyar is to be included in all government decisions and actions. Members of Hezb-e Islami will also be integrated into the Afghan armed forces and government ministries, and receive compensation for what the agreement describes as its unfair exclusion from government.

According to a copy of the agreement reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the government of President Ashraf Ghani will ask the United Nations to remove Hezb-e Islami from its list of foreign terrorist organizations and lift sanctions against its members. The Taliban has made the same demand for its members under U.N. sanctions.

In exchange, Hezb-e Islami agreed to a permanent cease-fire, disband its military structure and sever all links with terrorist groups.

The accord also is unlikely to alter the contours of the Afghan battlefield, where the Taliban, the country’s most powerful insurgency, are leading the fight to unseat the foreign-backed government in Kabul and an affiliate of Islamic State is making gains in the country’s east.

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