Hard choice for peace in Afghanistan (Barnett Rubin, South Asia Monitor)

On September 29th, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the Hezb-e-Islami (Islamic Party) of Afghanistan, signed a peace agreement with the Afghan government, by prerecorded video, from an undisclosed location. In the nineteen-eighties, Hezb-e-Islami was the most extreme of the seven mujahideen parties recognized by Pakistan, and Hekmatyar’s unblinking black eyes were framed by a black turban and full black beard. Three decades later, Hekmatyar, now sixty-nine, has a different look. On the video, he wore the same black turban, but his beard has turned white and his heavy-lidded eyes peered out from behind bookish wire-rimmed glasses.

http://southasiamonitor.org/news/hard-choice-for-peace-in-afghanistan/n/19948