KABUL, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Afghan government and the radical Islamic party the Hizb-e-Islami led by Gulbudin Hekmatyar finally inked a draft peace agreement after lengthy talks here on Thursday vowing to cement peace process and national reconciliation in the insurgency-ridden country.
A former prime minister and dissident warlord Hekmatyar, according to Afghans, had played a significant role in the bloody factional fighting erupted after the fall of the then Najibullah's government in 1991 until Kabul was captured by Taliban group in 1996.
Some Kabul residents have been accusing Hekmatyar of involvement in fueling factional fighting and firing thousands of rockets into Kabul and killing countless people including civilians.
The peace deal with Hekmatyar, has granted him judicial impunity, a privilege opposed by many Afghans.
"The rockets fired by Hekmatyar's men during factional fighting in Kabul had claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent citizens therefore he should be tried," a Kabul resident Ahmad Farid told Xinhua.
Farid, who had experienced the factional fighting in 1990s, asserted that Hekmatyar's war mongering policies have badly damaged the country, besides inflicting loss of lives and properties to the people.
On the other hand, another Kabul resident, Abdul Shah has backed inking peace deal with Hekmatyar-led party, saying that peace with Hekmatyar's group could encourage other armed oppositions to follow the step.
The Hekmatyar-led party Hizb-e-Islami, the third largest militant group, has been opposing the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan and Hekmatyar himself was designated by the U.S. as a "global terrorist" in 2003 and his name had been blacklisted by UN.
However, the peace deal inked here in Kabul on Thursday has obliged Afghan government to work to delist Hekmatyar's name from the UN's list terrorist outfits.
In his address after inking the peace deal with government side, the Hekmatyar's representative Amin Karim noted that the Hizb-e-Islami would continue its struggle until the expulsion of all foreign forces from Afghanistan.
Speaking on the occasion, Afghan presidential advisor on National Security, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, while stressing for the early implementation of the peace agreement, categorically stated that the peace deal with Hizb-e-Islami is based on the country's constitution and the party has committed to working for peace, stability and reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.
More than 100 Kabul residents also staged a peaceful demonstration here in Kabul protesting Hekmatyar's involvement in committing crimes and registered their opposition to peace deal with the Hekmatyar-led party.
"I think it's a big step towards peace and Hekmatyar like other Afghans has the right to come to his homeland and serve his country and people," a vegetable seller Hajji Muslim told Xinhua.
