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Council meeting in Kabul recommends release of Taliban

2020-08-09T06:46:38.498Z


The release of 400 Taliban prisoners classified as particularly dangerous was considered the last hurdle before peace talks within Afghanistan. A large council now approved her. Will the decades-long conflict soon end?


The release of 400 Taliban prisoners classified as particularly dangerous was considered the last hurdle before peace talks within Afghanistan. A large council now approved her. Will the decades-long conflict soon end?

Kabul (dpa) - In Afghanistan, a large council assembly recommended the controversial release of imprisoned Taliban. According to the final declaration, the delegates agreed on this on Sunday.

The release of 400 Taliban classified as particularly dangerous was considered the last hurdle before peace talks within Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani convened the so-called Loja Jirga around a week ago after the Taliban and the government agreed on a three-day ceasefire for the Islamic festival of sacrifice, Eid al-Adha.

Around 3,400 political and religious representatives of society - including around 700 women - have been discussing this central issue of the release of prisoners since Friday. In 50 committees, the delegates worked out a resolution that also called for an unconditional ceasefire. President Ghani said on Friday that peace talks would begin after three days if an agreement was reached.

The militant Islamist Taliban, who had made the release of certain supporters a precondition for the peace talks planned since the end of February, initially made no comment.

The conflict recently continued brutally in the country. Although the Taliban had not killed any international soldiers since the agreement they signed with the United States in February, they stepped up their fight against the Afghan armed forces. More than half of the country's districts are contested. Ghani had repeatedly emphasized that for legal reasons the 400 Taliban could not be pardoned for the serious crimes they had committed.

The convening of the council meeting was not without controversy. Experts assumed that President Ghani did not want to make this unpopular decision himself. Afghanistan's parliamentary speaker Rahman Rahmani also criticized the fact that the organization of a loja jirga was not covered by Afghan law. Parliamentarians felt they had been betrayed and even described the meeting as illegal. They criticized Ghani's constitutional breach by being released.

The USA signed an agreement with the Taliban on February 29 in Doha (Qatar) that provides for the withdrawal of international troops. In return, the Taliban promised to end their relations with other terrorist organizations. At the same time it should pave the way for peace talks within Afghanistan; an exchange of prisoners had been agreed as a confidence-building measure. Up to 5,000 imprisoned Taliban were to be released in exchange for 1,000 government prisoners held by the rebels.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200809-99-97716 / 2

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-08-09

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