Interview With Key Afghan Insurgent

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was once embraced by the United States as a freedom fighter, part of the mujahideen resistance against the Russian occupation of the 1980s. But he turned on the United States after 9/11, and today leads the second-largest insurgency group in Afghanistan after the Taliban. The group, known as Hezb-e Islami, shares the same goals as the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, but operates independently and is accused of killing U.S. soldiers and countless Afghan civilians.

This interview was obtained by CBS News' Sami Yousafzai through his sources in northeastern Afghanistan. Hekmatyar agreed to the interview only if he could answer questions submitted on paper and with no reporter present.

It is not known where Hekmatyar lives today and, for his personal security reasons, he wants to keep it that way. The CBS News questions changed hands dozens of times before reaching Hekmatyar, in order to hide his location. Hekmatyar has been designated by the Bush administration as a global terrorist and he lives under the constant threat of the U.S. military.

Hekmatyar is regarded as critical to bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan. For weeks, there have been rumblings in Kabul that Hekmatyar and the Karzai government were close to a breakthrough deal to bring Hekmatyar into formal talks with the Afghan president. Today, Karzai's spokesman said his office was optimistic about that possibility and indicated there may be developments to report in the near future.