Taliban want Haqqani’s son released ahead of talks
Washington still to name negotiators for peace parleys
Stanekzai, to join talks slated for Feb. 25 in Doha. However, the negotiating team includes Anas Haqqani who is currently being held in an Afghan jail, and the group has demanded he be freed in time for the peace talks.
Haqqani was arrested during an overseas visit and has been kept behind bars since 2014, but his role in the network is not clear.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said: “Anas should be freed because he was a student and was arrested by Americans during a trip to Jordan. He has not committed any crime. He is a member of the negotiators' team and the Americans should free him,” Mujahid told Arab News.
Haroon Chakhansuri, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, confirmed that Haqqani was being held by Kabul but said the government had no immediate plans to release him. “Anas Haqqani is in prison and no decision has been taken about his freedom,” Chakhansuri said.
Mujahid said the US had yet to announce the names of its negotiators but added that the two sides were in contact with each other.
The Taliban team named for the Doha talks consists of chief negotiator Stanekzai, Maulvi Zia-urRehman Madni, Maulvi Abdul Salam Hanfi, Sheikh Shahabuddin Dilawar, Mullah Abdul Latif Mansoor, Mullah Abdul Manan Umari, Maulvi Amir Khan Mutaqi, Mullah Muhammad Fazil Mazloom, Mullah Khairullah Khairkhwa, Maulvi Mati-ul-Haq, Mullah Muhammad Anas Haqqani, Mullah Noorullah Noori, Maulvi Muhammad Nabi Umari and Maulvi Abdul Haq Wasiq.
Ghani, whose government up until now had been sidelined from the peace discussions on the insistence of the Taliban, is aiming to secure a second term in office at the presidential polls in July.
Washington wants to allow the peace talks with the Taliban to succeed so that the group can also participate in the election process at a later stage, a point US special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, hinted at in his last trip to the region.
Mujahid said that it was too early for the Taliban to say if the group would be participating in the presidential ballot, unless a peace deal is struck.