Pakistan welcomes Afghan jirga's recommendation to free Taliban prisoners

 

Pakistan welcomes the Afghan Loya Jirga’s recommendation to release the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners, said a press release issued by Foreign Office on Sunday.

According to the statement, Pakistan hopes that "with the implementation of this step relating to the prisoners’ release, as envisaged in the US Taliban Peace Agreement, the Intra-Afghan Negotiations will commence at the earliest".

"Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised that the Afghan leaders must seize this historic opportunity and work together constructively through Intra-Afghan Negotiations to secure a comprehensive, broad-based and inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan," read the official communique.

Noting that Pakistan has consistently supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process, the statement highlighted Pakistan’s positive contribution to the process which is recognised internationally.

Reaffirming the country's support for "a peaceful, stable, united, democratic, sovereign, and prosperous Afghanistan, at peace with itself and with its neighbours", the Foreign Office urged the international community to also reinforce its support for the success of Intra-Afghan negotiations.

Jirga agrees to free Taliban prisoners

A jirga comprising thousands of prominent Afghans agreed to releasing 400 Taliban prisoners who were involved in attacks on the country's people and foreigners, "for the good of the people".

The resolution was passed at the end of a three-day "loya jirga" — a traditional Afghan meeting of tribal elders and other stakeholders sometimes held to decide on controversial issues.

"In order to remove the hurdles for the start of peace talks, stopping bloodshed, and for the good of the public, the jirga approves the release of 400 prisoners as demanded by the Taliban," jirga member Atefa Tayeb announced.

According to an official list seen by AFP, many of the inmates are accused of serious offences, including many involved in attacks that killed scores of Afghans and foreigners, with more than 150 of them on death row.

"The decision of the loya jirga has removed the last excuse and obstacles on the way to peace talks. We are on the verge of peace talks," said Abdullah Abdullah, who has been appointed by the government to lead negotiations with the Taliban.

"This is a very happy day. Based on the information I have the intra-Afghan talks would begin within two to three days after the release of the 400 Taliban prisoners," former president Hamid Karzai told the gathering.

The gathering recommended that any foreign nationals among the prisoners should be handed over to their respective countries.

The prisoners' fate has been a crucial hurdle in launching peace talks between the two warring sides, which have committed to completing a prisoner exchange before the talks can start.

The Afghan government has released almost 5,000 Taliban inmates, but authorities baulked at freeing the final prisoners demanded by the Taliban.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed for the release of the detainees, while recognising the decision would be "unpopular".

The prisoners include 44 insurgents of particular concern to the United States and other countries for their role in "high-profile" attacks.

Five are linked to the 2018 attack on the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul that killed 40 people, including 14 foreigners.

One involved in the massive May 2017 truck bombing near the German embassy in Kabul is also on the list, which includes a former Afghan army officer who killed five French troops and wounded 13 in 2012 in an insider attack.

On the first day of the gathering, lawmaker Belquis Roshan, a prominent women's rights activist, protested against the release of the prisoners, unfurling a banner that read: "Redeeming Taliban is national treason."