Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Kabul to free last Taliban prisoners to set up talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan on Sunday said his government would release a last batch of Taliban prisoners, removing the final hurdle in the way of direct negotiations with the insurgents to end the country’s long war.
His announcement came after a consultative assembly where he had been advised by thousands of representatives from across the country.
The release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, which the United States agreed to in a February deal with the insurgents that also began the phased withdrawal of U.S. troops, faced opposition from the Afghan government, which is holding the prisoners.
After prolonged pressure from the President Donald
Trump’s administration, Ghani released 4,600 prisoners from a list provided by the Taliban but called for consultations over 400, whom he said were accused or convicted of major crimes, including murder, that were beyond his authority to pardon.
At the start of the consultative assembly, on Friday, more than 3,000 delegates crammed under one tent in the capital, Kabul, despite fears of the coronavirus. Ghani said his government was at a crossroads.
“The Taliban have said that if the 400 prisoners are released the direct talks between our negotiating team and the Taliban will start three days later,” he said to delegates. “In the meantime, they have threatened that if they are not released, not only they will continue their war and violence but they will escalate it.”
On Sunday, after two days of deliberations spread across more than 50 committees, the assembly released a declaration calling for the release of the prisoners. The mood in the hall was often tense. One delegate, a member of parliament who carried a sign that read, “Giving into Taliban bullying is treason,” was pushed out of the hall and tackled by a staff member when she resisted.
Ghani said he would sign the decree Sunday freeing the 400 prisoners.
“We faced a choice, and our decision was made easier today,” he said.
In a statement presented to participants of the assembly, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Taliban had committed to beginning direct negotiations after the prisoners are released and had pledged to reduce the level of violence during the talks, during which a permanent ceasefire will be discussed.
“The United States intends to hold the Taliban to these commitments,” Pompeo said.
Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman to the Taliban negotiating team, said once the 400 prisoners were released they “don’t see any hurdle” to beginning talks.
Many delegates said it appeared that the Afghan government had already given in to U.S. pressure to release the remaining prisoners. The assembly, convened solely for consultation, was a way for Ghani to share political responsibility, they said. Representatives from several committees added that they were asked to give recommendations on the release of the 400 prisoners without being provided details of what the prisoners were accused or convicted of.
In recent months, officials gave varied reasons why they could not release the remaining prisoners. Some said the group included foreign citizens convicted of murder and that the government did not have the authority to offer forgiveness on behalf of victims’ families. Other officials said some prisoners were drug dealers or members of organizedcrime gangs, unaffiliated with the Taliban. Those criminals were included on lists of prisoners whose release the Taliban demanded.
A government document said 156 of the 400 prisoners had been sentenced to death, 105 were convicted of homicide, 34 of kidnapping and 51 of narcotics trafficking. A handful were convicted of rape. But it also said that 44 had been “blacklisted” by the Afghan government and its partners. The crimes of four prisoners were listed as “unidentifiable.”