In Reversal, Afghan Leader Agrees To Release Taliban Prisoners

Two days after being sworn in for a second five-year term at a ceremony attended by senior U.S. officials, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reversed his initial to release Taliban prisoners prior to peace talks with the insurgents."President Ghani issued a decree tonight to release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners starting Saturday from a list provided by early Wednesday on Twitter. "The Taliban had already agreed to release up to 1,000 prisoners from the Afghan government side."In a decree touted as a good faith gesture to get talks started, Ghani to releasing the first 1,500 Taliban prisoners in batches of 100 a day beginning March 14. The remaining 3,500 war prisoners would be freed at a rate of 500 every two weeks once direct talks begin with the Taliban, but only if there has been a major reduction in violent attacks."The Taliban prisoners will not be released without a guarantee," Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi was as saying by Afghanistan's online TOLO News agency. "We should be assured that these individuals do not return to the war to fuel Taliban's war machine.""We handed over to the US team a detailed list of 5,000 prisoners that none can tamper with," Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen. "Our very condition is that the detainees are acceptable if verified by our team, whether they are handed over to us in an open rural area or in the premises of prisons." Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fl., raised the case of Mark Frerichs, a 57-year-old U.S. government contractor from Illinois who was by American officials to have been captured in late January in Afghanistan's Khost province.