The Taliban will not participate in intra-Afghan talks until roughly 5,000 of its prisoners are released, its spokesman said on Monday.
“If our 5,000 prisoners – 100 or 200 more or less does not matter – do not get released there will be no intra-Afghan talks,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted as saying by Reuters.
According to the US-Taliban deal, intra-Afghan negotiations are scheduled to start on March 10. The agreement calls for up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, however, has rejected prisoner release. He said that it is not in the authority of United States to decide, “they are only a facilitator.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program there had been prisoner releases from both sides in the past, and voiced hope that negotiations would begin in the coming days between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
“It’s going to be rocky and bumpy,” Pompeo said. “No one is under any false illusion that this won’t be a difficult conversation.”
