Move Aimed at Restarting Peace Process, but May Not Satisfy Kabul
The Pakistani government said Saturday it had released seven Afghan Taliban prisoners, in a move it said was aimed at helping revive the stalled peace process in Afghanistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai pressed for the release of Taliban members in Pakistani custody on a visit to Islamabad last month. Top Afghan officials believe senior Taliban figures can help jump-start peace negotiations with the insurgent leadership.
"They have just been released," said Aizaz Chaudhry, the spokesman for Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "The objective is to facilitate the reconciliation process."
It wasn't immediately clear, however, whether the release of Taliban prisoners would satisfy the government in Kabul. Pakistan has yet to meet a key demand of Mr. Karzai—the release of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the former deputy leader of the Taliban. None of those released Saturday are considered top-echelon members of the Taliban movement.
A senior Afghan official called Saturday's news "a positive but small step by the Pakistani government in support of our peace efforts in Afghanistan."
However, the official added: "We expect additional and more significant steps by Pakistan...including the release of Mullah Baradar and other senior Taliban leaders currently in Pakistani jails."
The release of Mullah Baradar is a particularly important trust-building measure for Afghan officials: He was engaged in tentative contacts with Kabul when he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2010 in the southern city of Karachi.
Mr. Chaudhry said he had no information on the prospects for Mullah Baradar's release, on who selected the names for those set free on Saturday, and where the men were let go. Afghan officials have said they don't want Taliban members to be allowed to simply walk free in Pakistan.
Over the last year, Pakistan had already freed 26 Taliban prisoners, including Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, the former Taliban justice minister. Out of those released, apparently inside Pakistan, none are known to have played any role in trying to begin peace talks, while some are believed to have returned to the battlefield.
Pakistan has never explained why the Taliban members were in its jails and what charges they were held under.
During Mr. Karzai's visit to Islamabad, Pakistan promised to do "its best" to convince the Taliban to speak to Kabul.
The released prisoners named in Saturday's announcement included Mansoor Dadullah, brother of Mullah Dadullah, one of the most feared and brutal Taliban commanders, who was killed in southern Afghanistan in 2007.
The Taliban have thus far refused to formally open talks with Kabul, regarding Mr. Karzai's administration as a Western-backed puppet. Earlier this summer, the opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf emirate of Qatar raised hopes that peace talks could begin. However, the initiative foundered over objections from Mr. Karzai, who felt excluded from the process and was infuriated by the Taliban presenting themselves in Qatar as an alternative government-in-waiting.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Amb. James Cunningham, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul, described Mr. Karzai's recent trip to Islamabad as a "good beginning" for reviving ties between Islamabad and Kabul.
Both sides, he said recognize "an intrinsic relationship between stability and progress in Pakistan and stability and progress in Afghanistan, and they need to find a way to work to better support each side."
Separately, government and opposition parliamentary parties in Pakistan will gather on Monday for a conference that is supposed to decide on how to deal with the Pakistani Taliban, a home-grown insurgent movement that targets Pakistan and operates independently of the Afghan Taliban. The meeting is expected to endorse opening peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a demonstration outside the Iranian consulate in the western city of Herat turned violent, as police opened fire on protesters in what they said was an attempt to stop looting.
Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Herat police, said around 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside the consulate on Saturday morning to protest delays in the issuance of visas to Afghans. Afghanistan has close trade ties with Iran, and many impoverished Afghans go to Iran to find work.
One demonstrator was killed and five were injured, Mr. Ahmadi said.
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