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Afghan Peace Talks Set to Start as Taliban Announce Eid Cease-Fire

Ayesha Tanzeem

   ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - AAfghan President Ashraf Ghani announced his
   government would soon complete the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners,
   thus paving the way for the start of long sought-after peace
   negotiations with the insurgent group.
   "With this action, we look forward to the start of direct negotiations
   with the Taliban in a week's time. We call on the Taliban to join us at
   the negotiating table and to conclude promptly a permanent and
   comprehensive ceasefire," he said, adding that a Taliban commitment to
   a ceasefire during the upcoming Muslim holy festival of Eid will be "an
   indication of things to come."
   Almost on cue, soon after the end of his speech, the Taliban announced
   a ceasefire for the "three days and three nights of Eid-al-Adha"
   expected to start late Thursday or early Friday.
   The two announcements came at a time when Zalmay Khalilzad, the United
   States special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation was on his
   way to Kabul.
   The intra-Afghan negotiations were supposed to take place in March, 10
   days after the U.S. signed a landmark deal with Taliban.
   They were supposed to start in March, 10 days after the U.S. signed a
   landmark deal with the Taliban to help end the war. The deal, designed
   to help the U.S. bring its troops home within 14 months in exchange for
   counterterrorism guarantees, promised a prisoner exchange of up to
   5,000 Taliban in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan security personnel.
   However, the Afghan government, which felt sidelined in that deal, was
   hesitant to release prisoners that it felt could be an important
   negotiation tool to convince the Taliban to announce a ceasefire.
   The militant group insisted it would not join any negotiation without
   the release of its prisoners. Until last week, even after the
   government released more than 4,000 Taliban, there was a dispute over
   around 600 Taliban prisoners that the government said were hardcore
   criminals involved in vicious attacks.
   As pressure from the international community, particularly from the
   U.S., mounted, both sides blamed the other for the delay in starting
   the process.
   In his Eid message Tuesday morning, hours before Ghani's speech,
   Taliban top leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said the exchange of prisoners
   "should not have been delayed by the other side" calling it a part of
   "building trust and shortening our path towards that end."
   Meanwhile, even as he announced the release of prisoners, Ghani not
   only accused the militants of killing civilians with rocket attack, he
   also alleged the Taliban were maintaining ties with al-Qaida and other
   terrorist groups in violation of the U.S.--Taliban deal.

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