The Obama administration, as part of an accelerated push toward an endgame in Afghanistan, last month reached a tentative accord with Taliban negotiators that would have included the transfer of five Afghans from US detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the Taliban’s public renunciation of international terrorism, the Washington Post said in a report on Friday. The deal called for the prisoners to be sent to house arrest in Qatar, where the Taliban planned to open an office, and additional actions by both sides, according to US and European officials who discussed the sensitive negotiations with the Post only on condition of anonymity. Until now, no Guantanamo detainees have left the prison as bargaining chips in a larger deal. It was the closest that the parties had come to genuine peace negotiations after nearly a year of talks, the newspaper quoted officials as saying. They said the agreement ultimately collapsed after Afghan President Hamid Karzai balked at its terms.
