US denies plan to release Taliban men

THE White House is denying a plan to release high-ranking Taliban officials held in Guantanamo Bay in exchange for an agreement by the Afghan insurgency to open a political office to begin peace negotiations in Qatar.

The plan was reported by The Guardian on Tuesday, which cited “sources familiar with the talks in the US and Afghanistan,” saying the US would release a “handful of Taliban figures”, including Mullah Khair Khowa, a former interior minister, and Noorullah Noori, a former governor in northern Afghanistan.

In a statement, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor dismissed The Guardian’s story.

“This report is not accurate. The United States has not decided to release any Taliban officials from Guantanamo Bay in return for the Taliban’s agreement to open a political office for peace negotiations.”

“So let’s get this straight,” wrote John Hinderaker at the conservative blog Powerline.

“We agree to release key Taliban leaders from Gitmo, and the Taliban ‘reciprocates’ not by releasing the one American they hold hostage, but by agreeing to ‘open a political office… in Qatar?’ Wow, what a sacrifice!”

It is clear that US officials and the Taliban are on the verge of some sort of deal involving the opening of a political office in Qatar, according to several media reports yesterday. The reports were triggered by an announcement last Tuesday by the Taliban that it struck a deal to open the office, The Times reported: