KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rejected on Sunday a Taliban demand for the release of 5,000 prisoners as a condition for talks with Afghanistan’s government and civilians, included in a deal between the United States and the Islamist militants.
Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference in Kabul, Afghanistan March 1, 2020. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani
“The government of Afghanistan has made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners,” Ghani told reporters in Kabul, a day after the deal was signed in Qatar to start a political settlement aimed at ending the United States’ longest war.
U.S. negotiators face difficulties in shepherding the Afghan government and Taliban toward intra-Afghan negotiations, according to Western diplomats.
Under the accord, the United States and the Taliban are committed to work expeditiously to release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides. The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.
On the issue of the prisoner swap, Ghani said, “It is not in the authority of United States to decide, they are only a facilitator.”
Ghani told CNN on Sunday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not asked for the release of t