Representatives of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s insurgent group Hezb-i-Islami have presented a formal peace plan to the Afghan government, the New York Times reports. A spokesman for the delegation said the Taliban would be willing to go along with the plan if a date was set for the withdrawal of foreign forces. The plan sets that date as July 2010, with the withdrawal to be completed within six months. But the representatives said the dates were a starting position and could change. The Hezb-i-Islami proposal, while categorical about the demand for foreign forces to leave Afghanistan, and to end military operations and detentions, goes some way toward meeting the demands of Western nations and the Afghan government on other issues. It accepts having the current government to stay in power, and having the Afghan police, army and intelligence services assume responsibility for security, while a national security council is formed as the ultimate decision-making body until foreign forces leave and new elections are held. A future elected parliament would have the right to review the Constitution. The plan declares that no foreign fighters would be present in the country after the departure of the international forces. Hekmatyar was responding to Karzai’s offer of peace talks as well as to the messages from the Obama administration that it wanted to withdraw forces and end the war, the group said. [ Just Foreign Policy, March 24, 2010]