Notorious Afghan warlord calls for peace in first public speech

One of Afghanistan's most notorious warlords appeared in public for the first time in more than 20 years on Saturday and called for peace.

"I invite you to join the peace caravan and stop the pointless, meaningless and unholy war," Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who the leads the Islamist organization Hezb-e-Islami, said to a gathering of his followers and Afghan politicians in Laghman province, east of the capital, Kabul.

It washis firstpublic speech since signing a peace deal withthe Afghangovernment.

I want a free, proud, independent and Islamic Afghanistan.- GulbuddinHekmatyar

As part of the deal, the United Nations Security Council agreed to remove Hekmatyar'sname from its ISISandal-Qaedasanctions list in February, and his assets were unfrozen. He is also no longer subject to a travel ban or arms embargo.

During his remarks,Hekmatyarcalled on all insurgent groups to end the war and join the peace process in Afghanistan. He said only Afghans could bring peace and stability to the country, not foreigners.

"I want a free, proud, independent and Islamic Afghanistan,"he said on Saturday.

During his days as a warlord,Hekmatyar'sHezb-e-Islamiforces were largely confined to two provinces and they have carried out few attacks in recent years.

Hekmatyar'shideout over the years was unknown, but he was thought to be somewhere in easternKunarprovince, where he enjoyed popular support, and made occasional trips into Pakistan.

As a politician,Hekmatyarespoused radical Islam and served twice as Afghan prime minister during the civil war.

The 25-point peace agreement givesHekmatyarand his followers immunity for past actions and grants them full political rights.

'Global terrorist'

The deal has been criticized by some Afghans and humanrights groups for the pardon it granted to Hekmatyar and many ofhis fighters.

Hekmatyar's return "will compound the culture of impunity,"Human Rights Watch researcher Patricia Gossman said of the deal, calling it an "affront" to victims of abuses.

A controversial figure from the insurgency against theSoviets in the 1980s and the civil wars of the 1990s, Hekmatyar is accused of ordering his fighters to bombard Kabul, leading to many casualties, besides other abuses.

• Afghanistan signs peace deal with infamous, reclusive warlord

His faction of Hezb-i-Islami has played a relatively smallrole in the current conflict, in which the Taliban have a leading role in battling the Western-backed government in Kabul.

In hiding for nearly a decade and a half, Hekmatyar had beendesignated a "global terrorist" by the U.S., which hasbeen leading an international military mission in Afghanistanfor the past 15 years.

American and other Western leaders praised the deal withhim, however, hoping it could help lead to wider peace in Afghanistan.