US wants urgent Afghan prisoners swap amid coronavirus fears

Zalmay Khalilzad’s demand comes as deadlock on prisoners swap still persists between Afghan government and Taliban

ISLAMABAD: The United States has called for an urgent release of prisoners both by the Afghan government and Taliban in the wake of novel coronavirus, saying it is time to move forward on the key clause of Taliban-US deal signed last month in Doha.

The demand came from US chief diplomat for Afghan peace process Zalmay Khalilzad on Wednesday as the deadlock on the exchange of prisoners still persists between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The deal, signed on February 29 in the Qatari capital between the Taliban and the US, has envisaged release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the insurgents are also supposed to free 1,000 Afghan security personnel. The prisoners swap was supposed to take place in the first week of March, ahead of the much-talked about intra-Afghan dialogue originally slated for March 10.

The process, however, immediately hit a road block after President Ashraf Ghani refused to abide by the US-Taliban deal. He, nevertheless, later agreed to free the prisoners but the Taliban rejected the offer since Ghani issued a decree ordering the release of 1,500 fighters instead of 5,000 agreed in the US-Taliban deal.

The scenario for Afghanistan after the US-Taliban deal

The Ghani administration said the release of first batch of 1,500 prisoners was being done as a goodwill gesture but release of remaining 3,500 prisoners was linked with the start of intra-Afghan talks as well as reduction in violence by the insurgent group.

The Taliban, however, made it clear that they would not enter into any talks with other Afghan groups unless 5,000 prisoners are freed without any preconditions.

The deadlock has since prevented the start of intra-Afghan talks, which are supposed to decide the thorny issues such as the future of Afghanistan.

“The United States would like to see prisoner releases begin as soon as possible in line with the US-Taliban agreement. No prisoners have been released to-date despite the commitment to do so expressed by both sides,” ambassador Khalilzad said in a statement.

“Coronavirus makes prisoner releases urgent; time is of the essence,” said Khalilzad who negotiated the deal with the Taliban.

The United States is committed to play its part, he said, adding that after consultations with all relevant sides, technical negotiations may be initiated immediately to iron out details of prisoners’ exchange.

“Technical teams from both sides can work together and focus on technical steps to begin prisoner releases as soon as possible. I will participate in the initial meetings,” Khalilzad said.

Face-to-face meeting, he said, is preferable but given the coronavirus outbreak, it is likely the technical meetings will take place through video link.

The US chief negotiator also urged both the sides to give ‘provocative media statements’.

“The Taliban commit that released prisoners will abide by the commitments made in the peace agreement and not return to the battlefield. A violation will undermine the peace process,” he cautioned.

“The time has come to move forward on prisoner releases,” he said while concluding the statement.