Reply #12: Government amnesty scheme

[sattahipdeep]

Wednesday Feb. 8, 2006, KABUL: More than 170 Taliban and other fighters
surrendered on Sunday as part of a government amnesty scheme, vowing to lay
down arms and work to rebuild the war-ravaged Afghanistan, officials said.
The men travelled from various provinces from across Afghanistan to Kabul for a
ceremony at which their surrender was announced by the head of the government's
reconciliation commission Sebghattullah Mujaddadi. They included members of the
extremist Hezb-e-Islami faction of wanted warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

"In the ceremony, 172 brothers, who were former Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami,
surrendered," Commission Spokesman Sayed Sharif Yousufi told AFP. More than 1000
Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami members had signed up to the amnesty scheme since it was
launched less than a year ago, Yousufi said. One of the former fighters, Qazi Joma
Khan from Hezb-e-Islami faction, said the men wanted to help rebuild Afghanistan.

"We vow to help ensure security and peace and take part in reconstruction of our
country," he said. Among those, who have taken up the offer, were former Taliban
Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil and Taliban regime's Ambassador to
Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef.

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