never mind again, he's

artappraiser — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 04:10:23 +0000

In reply to Never

never mind again, he's baaack:

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/20/afghan-president-karzai-now-will...

More detail here:

At the Taliban Office, Waiting for Progress on Talks

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/taliban-talks-afghanistan.html

Taliban offers to free U.S.

artappraiser — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 04:07:39 +0000

In reply to US to join direct peace talks in Qatar with Taliban over Afghanistan's future

Taliban offers to free U.S. soldier for Gitmo prisoners
By Kathy Gannon, Associated Press 11:27 a.m. EDT June 20, 2013

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The Afghan Taliban is ready to free a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.

The offer follows this week's official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.

The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.

In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition." [....]

Taliban Talks Could Depend on Detainees
By Charlie Savage, New York Times, June 20, 2013

WASHINGTON — Two were senior Taliban commanders said to be implicated in murdering thousands of Shiites in Afghanistan. When asked about the alleged war crimes by an interrogator, they “did not express any regret and stated they did what they needed to do in their struggle to establish their ideal state,” according to their interrogator

There is also a former deputy director of Taliban intelligence, a former senior Taliban official said to have “strong operational ties” to various extremist militias, and a former Taliban minister accused of having sought help from Iran in attacking American forces.

These five prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, could be the key to whether the negotiations the United States has long sought with the Taliban are a success, or even take place. A Taliban spokesman in Qatar said Thursday that exchanging them for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, an American prisoner of war who has been held by militants since 2009, would be a way to “build bridges of confidence” to start broader peace talks [....]

The five Taliban members are considered to be among the most senior militants at Guantánamo and would otherwise be among the last in line to leave [.....]

dagblog - Comments for "US to join direct peace talks in Qatar with Taliban over Afghanistan's future"

never mind again, he's

Taliban offers to free U.S.

Never