By Mehmet Ozturk

KABUL, Afghanistan

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, chief of Hezb-e-Islami party, has accused “some” regional countries of fueling the conflict in Afghanistan in an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, but he remained hopeful about an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process.

This is the first time Hekmatyar has granted a private audience to a foreign media outlet since his return to the capital Kabul under a peace deal with the President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani-led government.

The landmark peace deal signed in September last year has been widely hailed by the international community.

The iconic Afghan jihadi figure returned to Kabul last month, almost 20 years after he fled the country during its brutal civil war era.

One of the first things the 69-year-old party leader did upon his return was to urge the Afghan Taliban to learn from his example and walk on the path towards peace. In his speech at the Presidential Palace where Ghani had arranged a high-profile welcome ceremony for him, Hekmatyar offered the Taliban that he could act as a mediator between them and the government.

The Taliban, however, have so far not warmed up to the idea and in a statement released on May 15, the group rejected reports about contacts with Hezb-e-Islami.

The Hezb-e-Islami chief, who now resides at a government-sanctioned compound close to the parliament building in Kabul, told Anadolu Agency in Dari language that he had no power grabbing ambitions. He reiterated that he had no desire to challenge, strive for a change or ask for a share in the current Afghan government.

He was optimistic about prospects for a lasting peace deal in Afghanistan that would involve all sides, including the Taliban.

‘End of war is near’

“God is merciful! The end of war is near, everyone is fed up with the war; they [Taliban] have learnt the lesson that nothing can be achieved through war; the general public is sick and tired of it,” he said.

In a reference to the U.S. and allied forces, he said those who believed they could achieve their targets through war had also failed and now they realize the fact that war would neither end nor any victor would emerge.

“They are also now focused on seeking an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led solution to the conflict; [they see] no solution in war,” he added.

However, he also pointed out that “some well-off and powerful regional countries” never want the conflict in Afghanistan to be resolved.

“Enemies are investing in the continuation of war, they are seeking their gains in this war; it has been four decades since war was imposed on Afghans, which is a war that has been imposed from the outside,” he said.

Hekmatyar said the ongoing wars in the country were in fact a legacy of the former Soviet Union, which left a simmering war zone after it withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989.

Back then the war was led by Moscow while now it is led by Washington, he said.

He added that Daesh and al-Qaeda terror groups were not the big problems for Afghanistan.

Foreign ‘hands’ in attacks

According to him, the main problem for Afghanistan are some powerful and rich regional countries that are fueling and investing in the wars for their own interests.

“The foreign powers are using the Afghan people as a tool in these wars.

“If the Afghan people come to a mutual understanding among themselves, all domestic and external problems will be solved,” he said.

He also suggested that Wednesday’s truck bombing in the capital Kabul that left up to 90 people dead could be the work of such foreign hands.

“This was a ferocious act by brutal people who have no respect for anything or believe in any boundaries. The Afghans are not merciless to this extent; hands from outside that have no belief in God and have no mercy for human being have carried out this [truck-bomb attack].

“They do not have hearts but stones in their chest,” he said.

He also said efforts remain underway to gather all sides of the conflict and to reach a peaceful Afghan-owned and Afghan-led resolution.

Praise for Turkey

About the July 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, the Hezb-e-Islami chief praised the determination and sacrifices of the Turkish people in the wake of the attempt.

“Please convey my regards to the pride people of Turkey who stood firm and resisted the coup attempt; the people of Turkey have the nobleness to lead the Muslim world; we hope Turkey would revive its glorified history and lead the Muslims,” he said.

*Shadi Khan Saif contributed to this report from Kabul, Afghanistan.