Hizb-e-Islami Afgan supreme leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said lasting peace in Afghanistan is possible after the formation of a sovereign government.

Without local leadership the country would slither into another civil war, he said in an address to foreign policy analysts, practitioners and journalists at his exclusive talk organized by Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad. The forum was chaired by Executive President IPS Khalid Rahman and moderated by ambassador Syed Abrar Hussain. Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador  Muhammad Sadiq was also present on the occasion.

Hekmatyar said Afghans invested about $20 billion in other countries including Turkey and the Gulf states during the war and suggested that Pakistan should facilitate Afghan investors and businessmen thus enabling them to bring their investment to Pakistan. The facilities he termed essential in this regard include permission to open bank accounts, buy property on the basis of Afghan passports and long-term visas like those provided by certain European countries.

The Afghan leader, who met the top-level leadership during his three-day visit to Pakistan, said he had held talks with Pakistani officials in this regard and was hopeful that it would be implemented soon. Hekmatyar, who has twice served as Afghan prime minister in the 1990s, said it was the requirement of justice that those who have sacrificed for Afghanistan for so many years should have the right to govern the country now.

Afghan groups should have the opportunity to enter into negotiations with each other at a neutral venue. The discussion agenda would be the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan and an independent sovereign government. The other national issues such as constitution and type of government should be left for later after peace is restored. These are national issues and no external forces have the right to decide about these matters, he said.