Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar,
Born in 1947 in Imam Saheb, Kunduz province,
Afghanistan, is an Afghan warlord. He is a Ghilzai Pashtun of the Kharoti tribe,
speaks several languages (including English), has three wives and several
children. He has stated that he prefers an Afghan civil war rather than
occupation by foreigners and foreign troops. Human rights groups allege that he
is responsible for murdering more Afghans than the Soviet Union killed. He
served as prime minister twice in the 1990s. He is currently in hiding.In 1970, he joined the Muslim Youth. He was a member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) until he was accused in 1972 of the killing of a Maoist student. He was found guilty and sent to jail for two years. During the Daoud coup (1973) he escaped to Pakistan and was recruited by Pakistani intelligence.
In Pakistan, he founded the Hezbi Islami party (1975).
In 1979, Mulavi Younas Khalkis split with
Hekmatyar and established his own Hezbi Islami, known as the Khalis faction,
with its powerbase in Nangarhar. During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,
Hekmatyar received billions of dollars in military assistance from funds the CIA
channeled to the mujahadeen through Pakistan's ISI. He was described
as power hungry, ruthless and cunning by the Pakistani government. He
aligned himself with Abdul Rashid Dostum's Hezbi Wahjat. Together they
laid siege to Kabul, fighting Burhanuddin Rabbani and his Defense Minister Ahmed
Shah Massoud. From 1992 to 1996, the warring factions destroyed 70% of Kabul
and killed 50,000 people, most of them civilians.
February 10, 2002, all the offices of
Hezb-e-Islami are closed in Iran. Hekmatyar was expelled him from his Iranian
exile. His whereabouts became unknown. On March 11, through his deputy,
Qutbuddin Hilal, Hekmatyar pledged support for Hamid Karzai. Hekmatyar also
supported the return of the king. The
United States accuses him of urging the Taliban to re-form and to fight the
United States. He is also accused of offering rewards for those who kill U.S.
troops.
In September 2002, Hekmatyar released a
taped message calling for a jihad against the United States. On December 25
of 2002, the news broke that American spy organizations had discovered Hekmatyar
attempting to become a member of Al Qaeda. According to the news, he had said
that he was available to aid them. However, in a video released by Hekmatyar
September 1, 2003, he denied forming alliances with the Taliban or al-Qaeda but
praised attacks against U.S. and international forces. In October 2003 he
declared a ceasefire with local commanders in Jalalabad, Kunar, Logar and
Sarobi, and stated that they should only fight foreigners. Later that month
(October 31) Hekmatyar and Burhanuddin Rabbani held talks in Badakhshan.
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The End. Oct 01 2004