A leading Afghan bad boy group has told the BBC it would agree to a ceasefire if US-led coalition forces stayed in their main bases.Hezb-e-Islami, viewed as the country's most important rebel group after the Taliban, said they had already held talks with the Americans.
Habib-ur-Rahman, son of Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
... who used to be known as
The Most Evil Man in the Worldbut who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil...
said his father was willing to stop fighting.
... not that Hek ever did a lot of fighting personally, mind you...
... well, he never did learn to toss a grenade like a man ...
| Pakistan is part of the World of Cricket, a throwing style that seems more difficult to do with accuracy, for some reason. Or perhaps it's all that soccer [football], where the only throwing is done overhead with two hands in the general direction of a teammate. Most likely, it's just that he's hopeless at anything beyond switching sides. |
Hezb-e-Islami and the Taliban share common enemies - the central government and foreign forces - but there have been deadly festivities between the uneasy allies over control of local villages and taxes.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is regarded as one of the three main terrorist leaders, along with Mullah Omar (Quetta Shura Taliban) and Sirajuddin Haqqani (Haqqani network Taliban).
During an hour-long exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Hekmatyar's son, Habib-ur-Rahman, said: "We have held talks with the Afghan government and the Americans. We have prepared a formula, and discussed it with the parliament and the foreign powers. All Afghan groups agree that war is not the solution. But the Americans are sending 30,000 more troops in. They say 'we will suppress our opponents and then evolve a new strategy for Afghanistan'."
Mr Rahman said this was counter-productive. But he also said he believed the Americans would return to the negotiating table soon. "They will return as they know they cannot stay in Afghanistan indefinitely. The main thing for the war to end is for the Americans to leave," he said.
Mr Rahman said Hezb-e-Islami had proposed a "very rational plan" for "a dignified withdrawal".
He added that a ceasefire was also possible while US troops remained in Afghanistan. "If they remain in their bases, then we will not attack them," he said.
Mr Rahman also claimed that al-Qaeda was "not an issue" in Afghanistan, as the war was being waged by Afghans: "There is not a single Arab among them; most of the Arabs have left for Iraq."
"Really. Trust us on that."
| Why would the Arabs go to Iraq when Yemen is so much more romantic? |
We don't, either...
He also denied that Pakistain had provided a helping hand to the bad turbans. "In fact, Pakistain has been helping out the coalition forces by detaining and arresting the mujahideen," he said.
If you can't trust him when he says what he's doing you can't trust him when he says what he's gonna do. That's logick.
Earlier this week, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad
BlinkyOmar said there was no prospect of peace talks between the snuffies and the Afghan government. He said "rumours of negotiation" were a ploy by Western powers to "cover up" their military defeat in Afghanistan.