The UN has removed notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar from its list of designated terrorists, dropping the assets freeze and travel ban against the former anti-India insurgent leader, infamous as "butcher of Kabul", who has signed a peace pact with the government.
The UN Security Council's al-Qaeda sanctions committee concerning ISIS, al-Qaeda and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities removed the Hezb-e-Islami leader's name from the ISIS and al-Qaeda Sanctions List here yesterday.
"Therefore, the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 2 of Security Council resolution 2253 (2015) no longer apply to him," the Sanctions Committee said in a statement.
In details mentioned about the 67-year-old, the statement said Hekmatyar was listed on February 20, 2003 and was "believed to be in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border area as at January 2011."
Hekmatyar, who heads the now largely dormant Hezb-i-Islami militant group, had last year in September signed a landmark peace agreement with Kabul after months of negotiations. The agreement paved the way for his return to the country and possibly political life.
Hekmatyar, who has been in hiding since 1997, is widely believed to be living in Pakistan. He is believed to have close ties with Pakistan's spy agency ISI and is considered anti-India insurgent leader.
A former Prime Minister, Hekmatyar was a prominent anti- Soviet commander in the 1980s and stands accused of killing thousands of people in Kabul during the 1992-1996 civil war, making him infamous as the Butcher of Kabul.
Following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and fall of the Taliban, the US State Department designated him a terrorist, accusing him of taking part in and supporting attacks by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
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