{"id":3923,"date":"2021-11-09T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/?p=3923"},"modified":"2021-11-24T08:18:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T08:18:04","slug":"to-charm-seriously-evil-warlord-foreign-office-overlooked-journalists-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/to-charm-seriously-evil-warlord-foreign-office-overlooked-journalists-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"To charm \u2018seriously evil\u2019 warlord, Foreign Office overlooked journalist\u2019s murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andy Skrzypkowiak was filming the Soviet Union\u2019s occupation of Afghanistan for the BBC when he went missing in October 1987. The 36-year-old SAS veteran, raised in Britain by Polish parents, was later pronounced dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His skull had been crushed with a rock as he slept. He left behind a wife and young daughter. The killers have never been brought to justice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t the Soviets who murdered Andy, but an Afghan fundamentalist group: Hezbi Islami <\/em>(Islamic Party). They were led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a notorious warlord and Western ally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US intelligence wanted Hekmatyar to drive Soviet forces out of Afghanistan as part of the Cold War against communist Russia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CIA gave Hekmatyar\u2019s group $600 million<\/a> during the 1980s. No other Afghan militia, who were known collectively as the mujahideen<\/em> (Muslim fighters), received as much money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hezbi Islami<\/em> jealousy guarded their pole position and tried to prevent other guerrillas gaining publicity. They probably killed Andy just because he had filmed a rival group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Hardline, Islamic revolutionary\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Three decades on from the horrific murder, Declassified<\/em> has found new evidence of British government contact with Hekmatyar both before and after Andy\u2019s death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such liaisons may have helped defeat the Soviet Union but they also gave rise to future terrorism. After 9\/11, Hekmatyar joined Al Qaeda and Taliban attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This should not have been a surprise. Hekmatyar\u2019s Islamic extremism was already apparent during the Cold War. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Fullerton worked for MI6 from 1981-83 and met many mujahideen<\/em> leaders sheltering over the Afghan border in Pakistan. He told us Hekmatyar was a \u201cnasty character\u201d and \u201cvery hardline\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Files found at the UK National Archives show Britain\u2019s Foreign Office agreed. They also regarded him as a \u201chardline, Islamic revolutionary\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hekmatyar\u2019s group<\/a> taught Saudi militant Osama Bin Laden how to fight<\/a> in Afghanistan during the mid-1980s, shortly before he founded Al Qaeda. Around the same time, Hekmatyar asked the British embassy in Pakistan for a UK visa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alastair Crooke, an MI6 officer at the embassy, dealt with his application. Files show Crooke \u201coffered to arrange calls\u201d for Hekmatyar to meet British officials while in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warlord in West Hampstead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With British visa in hand, Hekmatyar travelled to Manchester and Derby to address Muslim students in 1986. He also held a press conference in London and met a diplomat from the Foreign Office\u2019s South Asia department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair sat \u201cin the rather incongruous surroundings\u201d of a \u201cspacious West Hampstead residence\u201d that belonged to a friend of Hekmatyar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The warlord \u201cseemed well disposed\u201d and briefed the British diplomat on events in Afghanistan, which were relayed back to Crooke in Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crooke has previously told Declassified<\/em> by phone that Whitehall\u2019s contact with Afghan mujahideen<\/em> during the Cold War remains \u201chighly sensitive<\/a>\u201d. Margaret Thatcher\u2019s file on her dealings with Afghan warlords as prime minister is still sealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crooke did not respond to further questions we sent by email.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Visiting the United Nations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite this ongoing secrecy, Declassified<\/em> has found Hekmatyar had contact with almost all levels of the British government in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ranged from an MI6 officer like Crooke right up to Thatcher\u2019s foreign secretary, Geoffrey Howe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its peak this relationship saw Britain invite<\/a> Hekmatyar to attend the United Nations in New York in the mid-1980s. This was because he made a \u201cconvincing case against the Soviets\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British diplomat Sir Stewart Eldon told a biographer: \u201cI well remember that I had the joy of spending a couple of one week periods of parading Afghan resistance fighters around the UN, much to the annoyance of the Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cIt was thought that it would be a good idea to bring them to New York and peddle them around the various delegations to have them say their piece.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eldon said inviting Hekmatyar to the UN was \u201cslightly surreal\u201d as he \u201csubsequently went off to kill a BBC television cameraman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murder in the mountains<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not long after Hekmatyar\u2019s visit to the UN, his group murdered<\/a> Andy Skrzypkowiak in October 1987. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His widow Christine Gregory told the Guardian<\/em>: \u201cAndy was determined to show by his filming what was happening under the Russians in Afghanistan. It is sickening that he was murdered by the very people he was there to help. He had tremendous sympathy for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andy had served with the elite SAS in Northern Ireland and Oman before becoming a freelance cameraman. He worked for some of Britain\u2019s most famous broadcasters, including ITN\u2019s Sandy Gall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Andy Skrzypkowiak (Supplied by Rados\u0142aw Sikorski)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the time of his death, Andy was freelancing for the BBC on his 15th trip to Afghanistan and had filmed a rival mujahideen<\/em> group led by Ahmed Shah Massoud, a more moderate rebel leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massoud is often described as being favoured by MI6 and the Foreign Office. Britain\u2019s ambassador to Pakistan, Sir Nicholas Barrington, mentioned in his memoirs<\/a>: \u201cwe helped Massoud with communications\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Barrington said he never actually met Massoud. By contrast, Barrington had \u201csatisfactory meetings\u201d with the more extreme Hekmatyar, \u201cwho spoke good English\u2026[and] had a sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such ties between the Foreign Office and Hekmatyar may have made him feel his group could kill a British journalist. And get away with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inviting Hekmatyar to the UN was \u201cslightly surreal\u201d as he \u201csubsequently went off to kill a BBC television cameraman.\u201d<\/p>Sir Stewart Eldon<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hekmatyar later told The Times<\/em> that the British government had \u201cnever\u201d made any representations to him regarding Andy\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Barrington claims he raised the killing <\/strong>\u201cat length\u201d with the warlord. He expressed concern in a telegram \u201cat the high-handed way Hekmatyar had brushed off any responsibility\u201d for his death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International concern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By 1988, French diplomats were increasingly concerned at Hekmatyar\u2019s \u201cthuggish behaviour\u201d. Fellow mujahideen<\/em> leaders complained that his group was \u201crobbing other resistance groups inside Afghanistan instead of fighting the Russians.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US security officials privately acknowledged that Hekmatyar\u2019s recent activity had been \u201coutrageous\u201d. They planned a \u201cshowdown\u201d with him for allegedly stealing US funds from a French team in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s spy chief, General Hamid Gul, began to harbour doubts about his own country\u2019s substantial support for Hezbi Islami<\/em>. He found Hekmatyar \u201cboth difficult to deal with and something of a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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However, the US worried that \u201crestricting military supplies could well be counter-productive.\u201d Washington feared reducing arms shipments would prompt Hekmatyar\u2019s group to \u201cuse their current stocks of weapons to raid caravans supplying arms to other groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would increase in-fighting among the mujahideen<\/em> \u201cat just the wrong moment\u201d. US planners wanted to \u201cpreserve the maximum alliance unity [between rebel factions] until Soviet forces had withdrawn.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faced with Washington\u2019s position, British diplomats limited their goal to \u201ctrying to wring an apology out of Hekmatyar\u201d for Andy’s death. Barrington was \u201cpretty convinced\u201d that his killers came from Hekmatyar\u2019s group but did not snub Hezbi Islami<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead he attended a press conference held by Hekmatyar\u2019s deputy in February 1988 in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. There, he appears to have given the warlord the benefit of the doubt over Andy\u2019s death and believed the killers \u201cwere not acting under instructions from the centre [i.e. Hekmatyar].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in London<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Throughout this affair, Hekmatyar\u2019s group maintained an office in London. And in November 1988 \u2013 barely a year after the killing \u2013 Hekmatyar was allowed back into Britain. He saw Foreign Office staff \u201cinformally\u201d in London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then in March 1989, Thatcher\u2019s foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe met Hekmatyar in Islamabad. The mujahideen<\/em> had chosen him as \u201cforeign minister\u201d of their \u201cinterim government\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only country in the world to formally recognise this self-appointed group as Afghanistan\u2019s legitimate leadership was Saudi Arabia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Howe\u2019s meeting took place despite the Foreign Office having decided to \u201ckeep Hekmatyar at arm\u2019s length.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polish MEP Rados\u0142aw Sikorski knew Andy Skrzypkowiak in the 1980s when they both worked as journalists in Afghanistan. Sikiroski survived and went on to be Poland\u2019s foreign and defence minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said to Declassified<\/em>: \u201cHekmatyar\u2019s an evil man, but a significant force in Afghan politics. Diplomacy is not something you do only with friends. You do diplomacy with maniacs and mass murderers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However when told the UK Foreign Office had allowed Hekmatyar into Britain so soon after Andy\u2019s murder, Sikorski was dismayed. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t look pretty does it,\u201d he commented. \u201cHekmatyar\u2019s seriously evil. I called for people like him to be punished for what he\u2019d done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIMELINE: BRITAIN AND HEKMATYAR<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1985-86 - British diplomats invite Hekmatyar to the UN in New York.<\/em>
1986 - MI6 helps Hekmatyar get a UK visa. He meets Foreign Office staff in London.<\/em>
1987 - Hekmatyar's group kills Andy.<\/em>
1988 - Hekmatyar is allowed to visit the UK again and meets Foreign Office staff in London.<\/em>
1989 - Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe meets Hekmatyar in Pakistan.<\/em><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Venomously anti-British\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Days after Howe saw Hekmatyar, diplomats noted the warlord was \u201cvenomously anti-British\u201d and \u201crepresents the worst kind of fundamentalism, as much anti-Western as anti-communist.\u201d They added: \u201cHe is the very last person we want to see rule an independent Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
British diplomats felt followers of Hekmatyar had \u201ccertainly murdered\u201d Andy. \u201cEven if this was not done on his orders he has done nothing to bring the culprits to justice,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite serious misgivings about Hekmatyar, diplomats felt \u201cby talking to him, we can try to counter his anti-British bias\u201d. On the other hand, they worried: \u201cBy snubbing him we can only confirm it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So UK diplomats decided: \u201cWe cannot forget [Andy] Skrzypkowiak, but we should not allow the case to constitute a permanent bar to a dialogue with a figure of Hekmatyar\u2019s importance.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Foreign Office concluded one of its most senior diplomats could meet Hekmatyar if he travelled to London in 1989. It is not clear if that visit went ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Butcher of Kabul<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When the mujahideen<\/em> eventually captured Kabul in 1992, they offered to appoint Hekmatyar as prime minister of Afghanistan. However, he continued to fight fellow warlords and repeatedly shelled civilian areas of the country\u2019s capital city. This earned him a reputation as the \u201cButcher of Kabul\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sikorski is critical of how close the US and UK were to Hekmatyar during the Cold War. \u201cHe was receiving more resources than people who were actually fighting the Soviets, like Massoud. Hekmatyar was always positioning himself for a takeover after the Soviet defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sikorski added. \u201cMassoud was busy fighting the Soviets in the Panjshir Valley and Hekmatyar travelled to the US and London.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the US invaded Afghanistan in 2001, Hekmatyar helped Bin Laden escape<\/a> to Pakistan. He then joined terrorist attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan and now, in his seventies,  supports<\/a> the new Taliban regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his memoirs, Barrington defended Western support for Afghan mujahideen<\/em> during the Soviet occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He noted: \u201cIt is easy to say now that the Islamic extremists of today with their suicide bombings are so abhorent that it would have been better to have kept the communists in power in Kabul.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But he said Afghan communists had conducted \u201cextensive purges\u201d in the 1970s and 80s that \u201cmust not be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An attempt was made to contact Hekmatyar via his family but there was no response. The Foreign Office declined to comment, but pointed to a scheme it launched in 2019 which claims to “hold to account those who harm journalists for doing their job.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Andy Skrzypkowiak was filming the Soviet Union\u2019s occupation of Afghanistan for the BBC when he went missing in October 1987. The 36-year-old SAS veteran, raised in Britain by Polish parents, was later pronounced dead. His skull had been crushed with a rock as he slept. He left behind a wife and young daughter. The killers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3924,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[234,16,137],"tags":[111,166],"coauthors":[186],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTo charm \u2018seriously evil\u2019 warlord, Foreign Office overlooked journalist\u2019s murder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After a BBC cameraman was murdered by Afghan rebels, the UK government maintained contacts with the group\u2019s leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/to-charm-seriously-evil-warlord-foreign-office-overlooked-journalists-murder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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