To the dismay of intense US efforts for the restart of stalled peace negotiations with the Taliban in Doha, the dialogue process is yet to begin as the Taliban are unwilling to talk until the US releases five Taliban detainees held at GuantanamoBay prison.
The Taliban leadership is displeased with the US inability to release the five important Taliban leaders. The US has reportedly agreed to hand over the Taliban detainees to Qatari authorities instead of giving them to the Taliban, but even that commitment is yet to materialise.
Diplomatic sources privy to the Afghan reconciliation process said the Taliban believed that the US should release their comrades if it was serious in holding dialogue. “As there is no release of Taliban leaders, no movement forward has been made yet and the peace talks are yet to begin,” a source said, seeking anonymity.
Moreover, the opposition by Karzai-led Afghan government to the formal establishment of a Taliban office in Doha was also a hurdle in the way of peace dialogue between the Taliban and US officials, he said.
Another diplomatic source, who also asked not to be named, said the Afghan reconciliation process seemed to be going nowhere despite Washington’s and its allies’ efforts, as the practical steps needed on their part were not being taken.
“The Taliban believe that they have an edge over the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, so the US should not expect them (Taliban) to be the first in allowing concessions. Rather, the Taliban expect Washington to do that and come up with peace overtures such as release of their leaders,” he said.
In addition to the US-Taliban standoff over the Taliban detainees, there have been other hurdles in the Afghanistan reconciliation process and sources said some fresh tensions between Islamabad and Kabul were also hindering efforts for peace.
“The Afghan government recently refused to hand over Maulvi Faqir Muhammad, a key leader of Pakistani Taliban, to Islamabad and that did not go down well with Pakistani authorities, who expected a positive response from the Karzai government in the wake of release of over two dozen Taliban detainees by Pakistan,” he said.
Faqir was detained in Afghanistan early last month (February) by the Afghan security forces. The source said the Afghan government, on the other hand, was insisting on the release of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a close aide of Mullah Omar. Islamabad has already told Kabul that it would release the remaining Taliban detainees in phases.
“It seems that after some months of positive developments, things have come to a standstill and there is no movement forward,” he said.
Pakistani authorities, he said, were also perturbed over the recent media reports that appeared in the western media about the rejoining of battlefield by the Taliban leaders and activists who released by Islamabad a few months ago.