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U.S. Offers Taliban a Prisoner Exchange |
8 August 2012by Andrey Dolmov, JTW
The government of U.S. President Barack Obama tries by a risky project to free the U.S. soldier, Bowe Bergdahl, who was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2009 in Afghanistan.
The U.S. government is offering the Taliban a prisoner exchange, through which five high ranking Taliban members from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay should be exchanged against the kidnapped U.S. soldier.
The 26-year-old soldier Bergdahl is in the hands of the Taliban in Pakistan.
In March 2011, the Taliban aborted the talks after Washington refused to transfer at once all five Taliban members to Qatar. In Qatar, some representatives of the Taliban still remain. Now all five Taliban prisoners should be transferred to Qatar.
Following the announcement of negotiations with the Taliban, the planned prisoner exchange is causing strong opposition in the U.S. Congress. The five Taliban members who should be transferred are among the riskiest prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Among them is also Mullah Muhammad Fazl, the former deputy defense minister of the Taliban. He is alleged to have been responsible for the murder of thousands of Shiites.
Congressmen are afraid that after the release of the five Taliban members, they could take up arms again. According to a study by the U.S. Congress, one in four of the 600 former Guantanamo prisoners, who have been released, become active terrorists again.
The exchange should not only get the kidnapped U.S. soldiers free, it should also help resume the so far failed political negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. International troops are under great pressure as they have announced their departure at the end of 2014. |
8 August 2012
Journal of Turkish Weekly
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