Once-Feared Afghan Warlord Is Still Causing Trouble, but Talking Peace<br />Western diplomats, in contrast, lean toward a deal bringing the Taliban into the central government, similar to the arrangement with Mr. Hekmatyar, and dismiss the model of local autonomy as "Talibanistan." Mr. Hekmatyar has also suggested<br />that individual Taliban commanders could join the peace process by first joining his party, and in this way be grandfathered into its settlement with the government.<br />By ANDREW E. KRAMERMARCH 4, 2018<br />KABUL, Afghanistan — When President Ashraf Ghani stood up last week to try to lure the Taliban to peace talks, promising them amnesty and political inclusion, he could point to a recent example: the deal<br />that brought the militant group Hezb-i-Islami and its deeply divisive leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, in from the battlefield.<br />In an interview in his government-provided residence in Kabul in February, Mr. Hekmatyar said his participation in Afghan politics showed the Taliban<br />that they, too, could wield influence after laying down their weapons.<br />Mr. Hekmatyar said he knew Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda, in the 1980s<br />and once saved the future terrorist leader’s life by breaking a Soviet Army encirclement of Arab fighters.<br />In the interview, Mr. Hekmatyar denied attacking civilians but openly discussed what he described as one of his more successful operations of the war: an ambush of a United States troop convoy<br />that "caused casualties." He had also been a target himself, he said, narrowly escaping an American drone strike that homed in on a signal of his satellite telephone.<br />Mr. Hekmatyar is promoting a reconciliation with the Taliban<br />that would grant local autonomy to the insurgent group in certain regions, or peace provinces.<br />" he said. that A large number of Taliban could join the government if the peace agreement with Hezb-i-Islami is successful,
