A senior advisor to President Ashraf Ghani on Monday welcomed the United Nations’ move to remove Hizb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s name from the sanctions list and said it was a historical day for Afghanistan.
Speaking at a joint press conference on Saturday afternoon in Kabul following the UN’s announcement earlier in the day, Akram Khpalwak said government is currently focusing on securing the release of Hizb-e-Islami prisoners and paving the ground to take in return Hizb-e-Islami refugees.
In addition, he called on all other insurgent groups to join the peace process – as did Hizb-e-Islami last year.
In turn, Hizb-e-Islami's chief peace negotiator Amin Karim said the removal of Hekmatyar’s name from the sanctions list is a result of the peace dialogue with Afghanistan.
Karim also thanked the Afghan government for delivering on the commitments made during the signing of the peace deal.
He stated that commissions from both sides were currently working on implementing all commitments stated in the accord and that both sides are satisfied with the progress to date.
Read the full story at TOLOnews