(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The United Nations has removed the name of a former Afghan warlord from its ISIS terrorist group and al-Qaida sanctions list.
According to a statement posted Friday by the Security Council, a U.N. committee removed Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's name from the sanctions list. The statement said Hekmatyar, leader of organization Hezb-i-Islami, would no longer have his assets frozen, be subject to a travel ban or to an arms embargo.
Hekmatyar, a former warlord who nursed bitter rivalries with other Afghan factions, agreed to lay down arms last year. Amin Karim, his chief negotiator, earlier told The Associated Press that he would return to the capital in "a matter of weeks, not months."
Hekmatyar is seen as a potential rival to President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who have governed the country through a shaky power-sharing agreement since the disputed elections of 2014. His return could inject new political uncertainty as the government struggles to confront a reinvigorated Taliban that has been advancing on several fronts.
In September, Ashraf Ghani signed a peace treaty with Hekmatyar and the United Nations to remove him and his party from terrorist blacklists. Hekmatyar signed the agreement via a video link into Kabul's presidential palace. The ceremony was broadcast live on television at that time.
The 25-point peace agreement gives Hekmatyar and his followers immunity for past actions and grants them full political rights.
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source : AP
Saturday
4 February 2017
12:23:11 PM
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The United Nations has removed the name of a former Afghan warlord from its ISIS terrorist group and al-Qaida sanctions list.