International
Iran acts against Afghan warlord
By Kesava Menon
Kuwait
Feb. 10.
The Afghan warlord, Mr. Gulbuddin Hekmetyar's long career in political thuggery appears to have been brought to an end. Authorities in Iran, where Mr. Hekmetyar has been sheltering for the past few years, today closed down the offices of his party, the Hizbe Islami and prohibited him from undertaking political activity. Iranian officials have also said that they would consider expelling Mr. Hekmetyar without indicating the country they would send him to.
Iran never had any particular liking for Mr. Hekmetyar during the decade when the former Mujahideen commander was supposedly fighting the Soviets. In fact, other than Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence, which made Mr. Hekmetyar if not the sole, certainly the prime recipient of U.S. arms, almost no one else had much use for him in that period.
Mr. Hekmetyar did not confine himself to politically opposing the other Mujahideen factions but acted against them militarily as well. Afghanistan's Shias were among the major victims of Mr. Hekmetyar's depredations both when he and Commander Ahmed Shah Massoud fought for control over Kabul following the ouster of Dr. Najibullah and later when the Hizbe Islami subjected Kabul to a daily diet of rocket attacks.
If Iran gave shelter to Mr. Hekmetyar following the rise of the Taliban it was primarily on account of a need to keep open some linkages to the Pakhtoons. That has become no longer necessary after Mr. Hamid Karzai and other Pakhtoons have assumed power in the Afghan capital.
The Iranian action against Mr. Hekmetyar follows just days after Mr. Karzai traveled to Heart for discussions with Iran's major Afghan ally, Commander Ismail Khan. The action against Mr. Hekmetyar will also be read in the context of U.S. accusations that Iran has been providing shelter to Taliban and Al-Qaeda escapees. But such an interpretation does not appear too solid since Mr. Hekmetyar and the Taliban were not known to have enjoyed a close relationship.
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