Iran Press/Asia: U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad mentioned in a sequence of tweets on Wednesday that Washington “would like to see prisoner releases begin as soon as possible in line with the U.S.-Taliban agreement.” The historical deal used to be reached overdue closing month as a deliberate precursor to direct negotiations between the federal government and Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan however as Khalilzad mentioned, “No prisoners have been released to date despite the commitment to do so expressed by both sides.”
“Coronavirus makes prisoner releases urgent; time is of the essence. We are committed to do our part and after consultation with all relevant sides,” Khalilzad wrote, ahead of checklist 3 issues the U.S. “understands” shifting ahead.
These issues incorporated conferences between technical groups, face-to-face conversations due to coronavirus, averting “provocative media statements” and that the “Taliban commit that released prisoners will abide by the commitments made in the peace agreement and not return to the battlefield.”
“The time has come to move forward on prisoner releases,” the diplomat mentioned.
Recently re-elected Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a decree closing week ordering the discharge of 1,500 Taliban prisoners, who presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi mentioned on Twitter can be adopted through 500 further prisoners freed every two weeks to achieve a complete of 5,000 prisoners at the situation that the intra-Afghan discussion advanced.
The following day, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen rejected the transfer as a contravention of the U.S.-Taliban framework, which calls for up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 different prisoners below Taliban captivity to be “expeditiously” launched as talks started on March 10. The year-long, Qatar-based collection of negotiations between Washington and Taliban officers that produced the settlement didn’t come with Kabul, which stays skeptical of its foe’s intentions. 212/ 105
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