ISLAMABAD - One of the deadliest insurgent groups in Afghanistan is in contact with Western officials and politicians “to find a solution to the Afghan problem”, one of its senior leaders said in an exclusive interview.

The Hizbi Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) is led by Afghan warlord and former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who has been in hiding for the last seven years.

Ghairat Baheer, Hekmatyar’s son-in-law who was released last year in Kabul after six years in US detention, told DPA in Islamabad that he met several Western officials and political leaders during his visit to several European countries, including Britain and Germany, earlier this year.

“When I was there I came across some politicians, some important figures of the Western world and we exchanged our views on the Afghan issue,” he said.

“But these talks were not official,” added Baheer, who served as the HIG’s foreign relations director during the Afghan resistance against the Soviet Union, and continued with the portfolio when Hekmatyar took over Kabul in 1993 after a fierce battle with rival groups.

Hekmatyar was expelled from Kabul after the Taliban took power in the war-torn country, only to return to action after the US invasion ousted them in late 2001.

His group, which is believed to have close links with Taliban and Al Qaeda, has turned into one of the deadliest militant outfits in recent years, killing dozens of NATO troops in roadside bombings and raids.

Baheer was arrested in 2002 by Pakistani intelligence agencies from his residence in Islamabad, also the location of the interview by DPA.

He was later handed over to US authorities in Afghanistan, and was subjected to brutal torture, he said.

Baheer was released May 29, 2008 reportedly following the intervention of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who personally met the militant leader later on.

“Afghans have suffered a lot in the last 30 years,” Baheer said.

“We have millions of handicapped, orphans and widows and martyred families, so one would be longing and looking very much to have peace (and) stability in Afghanistan.”

Criticising what he called “American insistence on the military solution”, Baheer said the only way peace could be restored in Afghanistan was through negotiations.

“I would prefer intra-Afghan dialogue - between the Karzai government, Taliban, other resistance groups and all political parties - without any foreign inference,” he said.

He said European countries like Germany should play a mediating role between the militants and the US and encourage intra-Afghan dialogue instead of taking sides in the conflict.

According to Baheer, the HIG was ready for official talks with Western countries but the discussions should “promise durable solutions based on realities and principle”.

Veteran Afghan journalist and analyst Sami Yousafzai said previous reports also indicated that Baheer had been engaged in secret talks with Western officials, including US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

“Americans are suffering heavy casualties at the hands of Hizbi Islami guerrillas, particularly in Nuristan province, and they apparently want to talk to the group before it becomes arrogant like Taliban following their successes,” Sami opined.

Karzai’s government has also been engaged with both Taliban and Hizbi Islami in secret talks facilitated by Saudi Arabia.

In September 2008, reports said Karzai’s brother Abdul Qayoum Karzai met some Taliban leaders in the Saudi city of Mecca.

Four months later, Saudi intelligence chief Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz travelled to Islamabad to discuss the Afghan issue with Pakistani religious leaders who wield substantial influence over Afghan militant groups.

He held talks with Maulana Fazlur Rehman - a religious-political leader who has close links with the Taliban, and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the then-chief of Jamaat Islami, a sister organisation of Hizbi Islami, according to media reports.

But Baheer said the dialogue between all concerned Afghan parties and also with Western countries should be broader and not just an effort to make everyone recognise the Karzai government.

Hizbi Islami would like the US to provide a suitable timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan, and Afghans should agree upon a neutral interim set-up before new elections where all political forces, including Taliban and other “resistance groups”, are to take part.

“And if there is a vacuum of military presence for the temporary phase, our suggestion is that there should be military presence from non-neighbouring Islamic countries like Malaysia, Indonesia,” Baheer chalked out the HIG roadmap for an Afghan solution.

But a proposed gradual withdrawal of NATO troops under a “suitable timetable” might not be acceptable to the Taliban, who repeatedly demand immediate and complete pullout.

Baheer said he hoped the Taliban would show some flexibility if they wanted durable peace in Afghanistan by ending a war that neither side can win completely.

“Everyone in Afghanistan wants the Americans to leave but one should be realistic,” he said. “If everyone sticks to his own position then there will be no Afghan solution. There is always need for give-and-take concessions in politics.”