Assault on Afghanistan's political
soul By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - Although the level of insurgency
against foreign troops and the US-backed government of
Hamid Karzai continues unabated in Afghanistan, crucial
political developments are unfolding between the
Hezb-i-Islami, Afghanistan (HIA) of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
and the Kabul administration. As the HIA is active in
much of the resistance, especially in the east of the
country, it is viewed as a crucial component in any
peace initiatives.
Afghan diplomatic circles in
Karachi confirm that the lines of communication between
the HIA and the Karzai administration have been
restored, and now both sides are exchanging views on how
to extricate Afghanistan from its present chaos. The HIA
is not banned in Afghanistan, and many of its members
are positioning themselves to play a role in elections
scheduled for September, assuming they go ahead after
already having been postponed from June.
For
almost a year, the HIA has tried to draw a line between
its political wing and its military commanders, with Dr
Qutubuddin Hilal heading the former. Hilal has actively
forged contacts with all political players in
Afghanistan, to such an extent that the administration
has been forced to turn a blind eye to the HIA's dual
policy under which its military wing continues its
resistance.
The latest meetings between HIA
officials and Karzai are taking place on the anniversary
of a HIA meeting on April 19 last year in Peshawar
(Pakistan) in which Hilal addressed a gathering in the
Samshato Afghan refugee camp and called for jihad
against the US presence in Afghanistan. Now, the same
Hilal has emerged as a moderate voice calling for a
political solution. At the same time, Hekmatyar's
fighters are active in Paktia, Khost, Logar and Kunhar
provinces, where they are attempting to stir tribal
chiefs into a revolt similar to the one taking place in
Iraq.
Faced with an active and primed resistance
in the country, as well as restive warlords (notably
Ismail Khan in Herat in the west and General Abdul
Rashid Dostum in Faryab province in the north) the
Karzai administration desperately needs a stepping stone
to cross its river of problems. In conjunction with the
US, Karzai has worked on a number of schemes, including
recruitment of "moderate Taliban" and even the Taliban
without their leader Mullah Omar, to constitute a
broad-based and acceptable government that would fill
the political vacuum in Afghanistan. The latest venture
now embraces the HIA's political leadership.
This initiative is separate from other attempts
to bring Hekmatyar himself into the political arena (see
Asia Times Online of Apr 3 Afghanistan: Hekmatyar changes color
again).
Understandably, both the US
and the Kabul administration realize the complexity of
dealing with the HIA's factions, as the wily Hekmatyar,
who was briefly premier in Kabul in 1996 before being
ousted by the Taliban, could simply be using his
political wing to pave the way for his return once the
HIA establishes a credible power base to negotiate with
other power factors in Afghanistan.
HIA
resurgence? Over the past few months, Karzai has
inducted three former HIA members and commanders into
the federal cabinet: Haji Mangal Hussain, Qazi Amin
Waqad and Waheedullah Sabawoon.
The latter two
have not been too well received. They were two of the
most powerful leaders of the HIA before they broke ranks
with Hekmatyar after the emergence of Taliban in the
early 1990s. Sabawoon was once part of the Northern
Alliance, which fought the Taliban.
However,
after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001, Sabawoon
called a meeting of about 150 "Islamic-minded"
commanders in Kabul to determine the role of Islamic
forces in the post-Taliban period. The meeting was
raided, though, and Sabawoon and all the commanders were
arrested. They remained in detention for some time, but
were released when the Karzai administration felt the
need for strong ethnic Pashtun connections to build its
power base against the rising popularity of the
resistance movement in southern Afghanistan. Sabawoon,
by regrouping all his former comrades of the HIA, has
quickly emerged as a powerful force - some even say
second only to Afghan defense minister Qasim Fahim.
The induction of Qazi Amin Waqad as federal
minister for justice has revived Islamist strength in
the process of law-making, with the new minister having
established a powerful lobby with minister of education
Yunus Qanooni, the chief of the Ittehad-i-Islami,
Professor Abdul Rasool Sayyaf, and head of the
Jamiat-i-Islami, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani ( a
former president). This fresh interaction of men, who
all have or had connections with the Muslim Brotherhood,
within the Afghan government establishes a powerful
connection between the resistance groups led by
Hekmatyar and the anti-US Islamists who are directly or
indirectly part of the Kabul government.
That
Karzai has a battle on his hands in the countryside is
well established. Now a battle looms within the heart of
his government.
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