Peace deal faces new questions

Kabul, Afghanistan — The Afghan government objected Sunday to parts of the historic peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, showing the difficulties that lie ahead for the country as the 18-year conflict enters a new phrase.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, speaking at a news conference less than 24 hours after the agreement was signed, questioned several elements of the deal, including the timeline for a prisoner exchange and the conditions surrounding the start of talks between the Taliban and his government.

The U.S.-Taliban deal, the result of talks from which the Afghan government was excluded, charts a path for the full withdrawal of all U.S. troops from the country it invaded after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It stipulates that talks between the Taliban and Ghani’s government must begin by March 10 — at which point the sides must have completed a prisoner exchange.

The Taliban has long demanded the release of 5,000 of its fighters held by the Afghan government. But officials in Kabul see the prisoners as a key piece of leverage to be used during their talks with the militants.

“Freeing Taliban prisoners is not [under] the authority of America, but the authority of the Afghan government,” Ghani told reporters in Kabul on Sunday. “There has been no commitment for the release of 5,000 prisoners.” He said the prisoner swap could be discussed during talks with the Taliban but could not be a precondition.

The text of the U.S.-Taliban deal released by the State Department says the exchange of 5,000 Taliban prisoners for 1,000 people held by the Taliban would occur “by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations.”

The agreement has been a critical foreign policy goal for President Donald Trump, who campaigned on ending the war. But it came under renewed criticism from his fellow Republicans back home.