A group of backbone members of Hezb-i-Islami (Islamic Party, or HIA) led by former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar openly on Sunday switched its loyalty to the Afghan transitional government by announcing its willingness to cooperate with President Hamid Karzai.

Abdul Qadir Karyab, former political officer of Hezb-i-Islami said that they were ready to cooperate with the Karzai government as a way to achieve peace in the country. This is the first time that members of the third largest anti-US Mujahedeen political group in Afghanistan openly identify themselves with the transitional government. The other two anti-USgroups are the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

At a news conference given here by 11 high-ranking members including Khalid Faroq, commander of Paktya Province in eastern Afghanistan, Karyab announced: "We are going to cooperate with the government and it is a step toward peace. We will attend the upcoming elections and we will send representatives to the new parliament." The decision-making council of the party will hold the central council meeting and decide about the future and leader of the party at the event, he said.

He said: "We are the majority among the party and we will pull more people."

The Mujahedeen delegates present at the news conference also demanded the Karzai government to release commanders of HIA party who were arrested recently.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar used to be a staunch ally of the Americans during the 1979-89 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He called on his countrymen to launch jihad or holy war against US-led forces, saying they were occupation troops. He was labeled by the American government as a global terrorist.

The remnants of the Taliban--the regime that was driven out from power over two years ago under a US-led military campaign andal-Qaeda as well as HIA have stepped up their hit-and-run warfare against the US and Afghan government troops for the last several months.

Over 600 people including civilians, Afghan and US soldiers have been killed since last summer, mostly in the rugged mountainous regions along the border with Pakistan.

Source: Xinhua