KABUL: The Afghan government and the Taliban have agreed to a prisoner swap at the end of March as part of the militants’ peace deal with Washington, officials said on Thursday.
The agreement comes after President Ashraf Ghani finalized a list of delegates to begin planning crucial peace talks with the Taliban, the officials said.
The prisoner exchange was secured on Wednesday following a five-way video conference that included officials from the Taliban, the Afghan government, the Red Cross, US and Qatar.
Javid Faisal, a spokesman for Ghani’s national security adviser, said that Taliban and Afghan officials will hold a face-to-face meeting in Afghanistan ahead of the release, which is set to begin on March 31.
Taliban prisoners will be selected for release according to age, health and coronavirus risk, he said.
Individual prisoners and the Taliban will have to provide assurances that freed inmates will not return to battlefield, Faisal told Arab News.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, also confirmed on Thursday that progress has been made on the prisoner exchange, but offered no further details.
On Wednesday, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s spokesman in Qatar, the group’s political headquarters, tweeted a series of comments on the agreement made in the five-way video conference.
“The process of releasing the prisoners will begin on March 31, and (the Taliban) will dispatch its technical team to Bagram prison to determine the identities of its prisoners — to verify the list of the prisoners that was previously endorsed,” he said.
The agreement on the prisoner swap ends the deadlock that threatened the start of the first intra-Afghan talks following Washington’s deal with the Taliban, signed last month following 18 months of secret negotiations.
The deal envisaged the exchange of prisoners before the start of the intra-Afghan talks set for March 10.
It will pave the way for the withdrawal of foreign troops led by the US from Afghanistan within 14 months. In return, the Taliban will guarantee that there will be no threat against any country, including US interests, in areas controlled by the militants.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who signed the deal with the Taliban, in a tweet described the agreement to release the prisoners in coming days as “a positive development.”
The prisoner deal comes amid heightened tension between Ghani and administration of US President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election this year and will use the troop withdrawal after 19 years of fighting in Afghanistan to boost his campaign.
It also follows Washington’s decision this week to cut up to $2 billion in aid to Kabul in the coming year because of the dispute between Ghani and his poll rival, Abdullah Abdullah, over the presidency.
Ghani and Abdullah have been at loggerheads since last September over claims of a fraudulent poll. Both announced separate inauguration ceremonies two weeks ago, throwing the country into political chaos.
After Khalilzad failed to convince the two political leaders to agree on a single administration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Kabul on Monday, but also was unable to deliver a reconciliation.
Washington said that aid can be restored to Kabul if the pair agree on a single government. It also wants an inclusive team lined up for the start of talks with the Taliban.
An official at presidential palace told Arab News that Ghani has drawn up a list of 20 members to hold talks with the Taliban led by former spy chief Masoom Stanekzai, who has held indirect talks with the militants in the past.
