Afghan President approves the release of 400 Taliban fighters

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the weekend council meeting

An important milestone in the Afghan peace process: President Ashraf Ghani has signed the controversial release of 400 Taliban fighters. This was announced by the presidential palace in Kabul. Ghani followed a recommendation of the large council. The release of 400 Taliban, classified as particularly dangerous, was the most important demand of the militant group before the start of the peace negotiations.

On Sunday, a traditional council meeting, known as the Loja Jirga, recommended the government's controversial release. Experts assumed that Ghani did not want to make this controversial decision himself and had convened the council meeting for it. He had repeatedly emphasized that he would not be able to pardon the 400 Taliban for the crimes they had committed.

USA expect early negotiations in Qatar

The US special envoy for reconciliation in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, welcomed the decision of the Loja Jirga. "In the next few days we expect the release of the prisoners to be completed, then the trip of the Islamic Republic (Afghanistan) team to Doha and from there the immediate start of intra-Afghan negotiations," wrote Khalilzad on Twitter.

When asked, the Taliban initially did not comment. Most recently, however, the Islamist group had said it would be ready for negotiations a week after the 400 prisoners were released.

The USA signed an agreement with the Taliban on February 29 in Doha, the capital of 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.

mes / dpa