The United Nations 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 on Friday.
"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.