ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s government is likely to release Anas Haqqani, widely known as the brother of Taliban’s deputy Chief, Siraj Haqqani, in a possible prisoner exchange deal, Taliban sources privy to the negotiations told Arab News on Friday.
Anas was captured by US’ security officials after he visited Qatar in October 2014. He was accompanied by another Taliban leader, Hafiz Rashid, who had gone to Qatar to meet five Taliban leaders who had been freed from Guantanamo prison.
The two were arrested at Bahrain’s airport and were later handed over to authorities in Afghanistan. The Taliban dismissed the reports of Anas release on Thursday claiming they are untrue. However, media reports released on the same day suggested that Anas had already been freed citing statements posted on social media.
In January last year, the Taliban offered to release two foreign hostages, identified as American University of Afghanistan’s professors — Kevin King from the US and Timothy Weeks from Australia -- in exchange for Anas and other Taliban prisoners in Kabul. King and Weeks were kidnapped in August 2016 in Kabul.
US’s special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad -- who led the team of American negotiators during the two-day talks with the Taliban in the UAE on December 17 and 18 -- had called for the release of the two professors, according to a Taliban official privy to the discussions.
A credible Taliban source told Arab News on Friday that Anas, who is imprisoned in the Bagram airfield, has been allowed to meet his uncle Mali Khan who was arrested by the Americans in Khost in 2011. "There had been discussions for an exchange deal. However, all sides have not reached any deal,” the source said, adding that restrictions on Anas and other Bagram's inmates have been eased with prisoners being allowed to meet each other.
In August 2016, an Afghanistan court had awarded the death sentence to Anas.
Anas Haqqani’s release on the cards, Taliban says
Anas Haqqani’s release on the cards, Taliban says
- Statement follows two-day talks with representatives from the US and other countries
- Deal could be part of a prisoner exchange program initiated during the meeting
US Justice Department official eyes cases against Cuba leaders as Trump floats ‘friendly takeover’
- “Working group” formed to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government
- Trump’s has increasingly displayed aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership
MIAMI: The top Justice Department prosecutor in Miami is considering criminal investigations of Cuban government officials, according to people familiar with the matter. The inquiry comes as President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Jason Reding Quiñones, the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has created a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to try to build cases against people connected to the Cuban government and its Communist Party, according to one of the people. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the effort.
It was not immediately clear which Cuban officials the office is targeting or what criminal charges prosecutors may be looking to bring.
The Justice Department said in a statement Friday that “federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.”
The effort is taking place against the backdrop of Trump’s increasingly aggressive stance against Cuba’s communist leadership.
Emboldened by the US capture of Cuba’s close ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump last month said his administration was in high-level talks with officials in Havana to pursue “a friendly takeover” of the country. He repeated those claims this week, saying his attention would turn back to Cuba once the war with Iran winds down.
“They want to make a deal so bad,” Trump said of Cuba’s leadership.
While Cuba has faded from Washington’s radar as a major national security threat in recent decades, it remains a priority in the US Attorney’s office in Miami, whose political, economic and cultural life is dominated by Cuban-American exiles.
The FBI field office has a dedicated Cuba group that in 2024 was instrumental in the arrest of former US Ambassador Victor Manuel Rocha on charges of serving as a secret agent of Cuba stretching back to the 1970s.
In recent weeks, several Miami Republicans, in addition to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, have called on the Trump administration to reopen its criminal investigation into the 1996 shootdown of four planes operated by anti-communist exiles.
In a letter to Trump on Feb. 13, lawmakers including Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gimenez highlighted decades-old news reports indicating that former President Raúl Castro — the head of Cuba’s military at the time — gave the order to shoot down the unarmed Cessna aircraft.
“We believe unequivocally that Raúl Castro is responsible for this heinous crime,” lawmakers wrote. “It is time for him to be brought to justice.”
While no indictment against Castro has been announced, Florida’s attorney general said this week that he would open a state-level investigation into the crime.
The Trump administration has also accused Cuba of not cooperating with American counterterrorism efforts, adding it alongside North Korea and Iran to a select few nations the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.
The designation stems from Cuba’s harboring of US fugitives and its refusal to extradite several Colombian rebel leaders while they were engaged in peace talks with the South American nation.
