17 November 2016

News Story: (Afghan) Govt To Ask UN To Lift Sanctions Against Hekmatyar

by Mir Abed Joyenda

The Afghan government will send a letter to the United Nations (UN) to officially ask them to lift sanctions against Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the National Security Council (NSC) said on Tuesday.

The NSC spokesman Tawab Ghorzang said they hope the United Nations will help Kabul in this respect.

"It was decided that government will send a letter to the United Nations Security Council in order to lift the sanctions. As well as, the UN has vowed to assess the demand of the Afghan government in the letter," he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Hizb-e-Islami's negotiation delegation, Amin Karim, criticized what he called snail-paced progress around the implementation of the peace agreement.

"The Afghan government should send a formal letter to the UN and other relevant countries in order to remove the sanctions [against Hekmatyar]," he stated.

Regarding Hizb-e-Islami's will to announce a permanent truce and eliminate its military formations, Karim said: "We have implemented all our promises and we are ready to fulfill them. For instance, we have done a countrywide ceasefire and are cooperating in security with government."

Read the full story at TOLOnews