A US soldier released in Afghanistan this weekend after five years in captivity was flown to Germany after a prisoner exchange that has revived hopes for Afghanistan's slow peace process.
Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, who was freed on Saturday evening in exchange for five senior Taliban held at Guantánamo Bay, is to receive treatment at a German hospital. He was able to walk to safety but was apparently having problems speaking English, officials said.
The deal may bolster Taliban moderates, who favour trying to negotiate an end to years of war, in their arguments with hardliners, who want only to fight.
“It could help a bit as it shows that you can actually get something tangible from talking,” said one western diplomat in Kabul.
In return for a junior US soldier the Taliban has secured the release of several important men, including a founding member Khairullah Khairkhwa; a former head of the army Fazl Mazlum; the deputy intelligence chief Abdulhaq Wasiq; and the former commander of northern Afghanistan Nurullah Nuri.
Republican criticism
Republicans lambasted the White House for the exchange, saying the “dangerous” deal violated US policy on not talking to terrorists and may have broken the law.
A deal first mooted in 2011 suddenly became a real possibility in recent weeks after hardline insurgent commanders previously firmly opposed to the exchange suddenly shifted their position.
The men must stay in Qatar for at least a year as a safeguard against them immediately returning to the battlefield, but will be reunited with their families there and able to meet other members of the insurgent group, sources said.
Talks first launched as part of a broader peace initiative three years ago broke down within weeks under the harsh glare of publicity.
Taliban footsoldiers rebelled against the idea of their leaders talking peace while they fought and died, but the commanders did not shelve their plans.
Qatar’s rulers
Last year the Taliban briefly opened an official headquarters in Qatar that was meant as a base for negotiations. Qatar’s rulers were key to the prisoner swap and wider talks.
But that office effectively closed down after the Taliban put up a flag and a plaque that made it resemble an embassy for a government-in-exile. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, withdrew from the talks saying they were legitimising the militant group.
The prisoner exchange was conducted through the Qataris because the Taliban refused to deal directly with Washington.
The US has pledged to keep forces in Afghanistan for two more years, delaying any Taliban hopes of a military victory, and both diplomats and senior Afghan officials with Taliban ties said they thought the deal could help moderates push for a wider process.
“This is a very important step releasing the senior Taliban, which will help us on the path to peace in Afghanistan,” said Hakimullah Mujahid, who was once a senior diplomat under the Taliban government and is now deputy head of the high peace council in Kabul, charged by Mr Karzai with brokering a deal.
– (Guardian service)