According to reports, Dr Ghairat Baheer, a representative and son-in-law of longtime Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, told that he had met separately with David Petraeus, former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan who is now CIA director, and had face-to-face discussions earlier this month with US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and US Marine Gen. John Allen, currently the top commander in the country. Baheer, who was released in 2008 after six years in US detention at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, described his talks with US officials as nascent and exploratory. “Hizb-i-Islami is a reality that no one can ignore,” Baheer said during an interview last week at his spacious home in a posh suburb of Islamabad. “For a while, the United States and the Kabul government tried not to give so much importance to Hizb-i-Islami, but now they have come to the conclusion that they cannot make it without Hizb-i-Islami.” 1

• 1. “US talks to Afghan insurgent group”, Dawn, January 24, 2012 at http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/24/us-talks-to-afghan-insurgent-group.html