Friday 9 August 2013

Afghanistan: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar a profile

'Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a radical Muslim fundamentalist who believes his divinely ordained destiny is to rule Afghanistan. However his single -minded and ruthless pursuit of power has alienated him from the overwhelming majority of his countrymen. Hekmatyar is the most divisive element in the current attempts to hammer out a successor government in Kabul. His accession to power would be resisted by force by many of the commanders on the ground. Hekmatyars alliance with the most hard line elements of the former Kabul regime and his willingness to assassinate other resistance figures who stand in his way have repelled most Afghans. Hekmatyar is virulently anti-western. He has frequently targeted U.S and western interests in Pakistan. He supported Iraq in the Gulf war despite having long been a beneficiary of Saudi largesse. 

Hekmatyar's espousal of militant Islam was probably a manifestation of his strong opposition to the king, Zahir Shah, which appears rooted in tribal rivalry. Hekmatyar belongs to the Ghilzai Pashtun tribal confederation which traditionally has opposed the Durrani Pashtuns. Hekmatyar's antipathy tithe former King is well known. As is his contempt for traditional Pashtun concepts such as the loya jirga. Hekmatyar's ideas and his organization reflect the strong influence of the Muslim brotherhood ( with which he is in contact according to a subordinate) and the Jamaat-I-Islami party of Pakistan , whose leader Qazi Hussein Ahmad, remains his staunchest supporter. Hekmatyar also supports other international Islamic causes. His training camps reportedly have hosted Kashmiris, Algerians and other Islamic radicals, who after a stint with the resistance in Afghanistan, return home with their newly acquired military and political skills '

- declassified (april 2000 ) 1992 US state department intelligence analysis 

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