taleban pick 5 former Gitmo prisoners to oversee uS talks

kabul — Five Taleban leaders swapped for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl in 2014 have joined the group’s political office in Qatar, it said on Wednesday, where tentative talks to end the Afghan conflict are ongoing.

The militants have authorised the former Guantanamo Bay detainees to “talk about peace”, a senior Taleban official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

Taleban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed their appointment in a WhatsApp message.

The announcement comes amid a flurry of US-led diplomatic activity to convince Afghanistan’s largest militant group to negotiate an end to the 17year war.

Earlier this month, newly appointed US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Taleban representatives in Doha, where the militants have a political office that serves as a de-facto embassy. Less than two weeks later a top Taleban commander held in Pakistani detention for more than eight years was freed.

A senior Taleban leader told AFP the group had requested the release of Abdul Ghani Baradar and several others at the meeting with Khalilzad.

The five Taleban figures are believed to be closer to the group’s top leader Haibatullah Akhundzada than the existing members of the office.

The Taleban official said the appointments had been made at a “very sensitive” time and would help strengthen the Taleban’s political team.

Some observers saw the move as a good sign for renewed efforts to bring about peace in Afghanistan, which has been ravaged by war since 2001.

“The Taleban are showing some positive gestures towards peace talks,” political analyst Atta Noori told AFP.

“The old team always failed to deliver because they were not given enough authority.”

But a Western diplomat in Kabul expressed cautious optimism. “It does look like they are preparing for something, what I don’t know,” he said.—