Following are excerpts from an interview with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, former PM of Afghanistan and leader of the Afghan Islamic Party, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on August 16, 2009.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar: America must understand that it cannot win this war by increasing its forces or by this farce of elections. It cannot divert the attention of the Afghans away from the main issue. The only thing it can do is to give in to the demands of the resistance, and withdraw from this country, leaving the Afghans to determine their future without any foreign supervision.

The main issues on the minds of the Afghans are ending the occupation, [achieving] the independence of the country, and establishing an independent government through fair elections – elections that would reflect the will of the Afghan people and allow them to establish an Islamic government. The Afghans will accept nothing less. The mujahideen will continue their resistance until these goals are achieved.