KABUL, Afghanistan: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Afghan militia leader who has spent the past two decades as a fugitive abroad, returned Thursday to the city he once attacked mercilessly and made an impassioned appeal for peace and unity in his war-torn homeland.
"I have come to cooperate with the government to help end the war and restore peace," Hekmatyar, 69, told about 2000 people gathered in the presidential palace in Kabul.
The extraordinary scene capped six months of intense negotiations between the Afghan government and Hekmatyar's representatives after President Ashraf Ghani offered him complete amnesty, and asked the United Nations to lift anti-terror sanctions against him, if the still-influential leader would return and help persuade Taliban insurgents to end their 16-year war against the state.
Despite the celebratory glow at the palace, there was concern that Hekmatyar's return could also become a new source of tension and instability in Afghan politics.
Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami party and the Taliban have been rivals in the past and have battled for power in some areas of the country. Last year, the Taliban denounced Hekmatyar as a criminal and a traitor to Islam.
"I am bringing my family to Kabul to send a clear message to all Afghans," Hekmatyar said. "From now on this will be our home as well as our grave and we will not abandon it for anyone."
Hekmatyar's speech — interrupted by constant shouts of "God is great" and "Long live Hekmatyar" — followed a warm welcome and embrace from Ghani.
"I thank His Excellency from the bottom of my heart," Ghani said, adding that Hekmatyar's return shows that "an end to hostility and strife can be achieved."
Hekmatyar, one of the country's leading anti-Soviet militia leaders in the 1980s, was also a bitter rival of other Islamic militias and fought them in a civil war that destroyed much of Kabul in the early 1990s.
Many of Hekmatyar's former foes — now in positions of power — are not happy to see him come back and have warned against it.
As for the Taliban insurgents, whom the peace deal is intended to woo back to the negotiating table, their leaders have portrayed Hekmatyar as a criminal and a traitor.
Taliban fighters also appear to show little interest in negotiations after making a series of territorial gains in recent months and staging numerous deadly attacks, including infiltrating an army base last month and killing at least 140 Afghan military personnel.
Ghani's peace deal with Hekmatyar has been seen by some as a desperate move with a high probability of failure.
Critics have expressed concern about the concessions promised to Hekmatyar, including the right to bring armed guards with him, the release of hundreds of prisoners from his once-banned party, and the offer of land to thousands of followers exiled in Pakistan.
Disputes over the prisoner release delayed his return to Kabul for weeks.
On Monday, when the first batch of 68 prisoners was scheduled for release, it was abruptly cancelled after Hekmatyar's aides were told 13 names had been crossed off the list. By Tuesday things had been smoothed over and 55 men walked out of Kabul's Pul-i-Charki prison, where they were given flowers, new clothes and turbans at a private welcome ceremony.
There has also been opposition to the peace deal from human rights activists and Kabul residents who recall the ferocious rocketing of the capital by his militia and others that killed thousands of people and destroyed many homes.
On Thursday, many people waiting to see Hekmatyar's caravan pass expressed confidence that he could bring peace, but a few said his past cruelty should not be forgiven.
"I know people have high hopes today, but we have to remember all the innocent people he killed, the children left orphans," said Faisal Khan, 24, a business student.
Around him, men and boys cheered as pickup trucks full of heavily armed men whizzed past, some with machine gun mounts on top. Hekmatyar, white-bearded and wearing spectacles, waved from inside a white SUV.
The Washington Post