KABUL, 18 January 2005 — The release of some 80 prisoners from US custody in Afghanistan heralds an intensified effort to bring former fighters from the Taleban militia back into mainstream society, officials said. The move could propel a wider amnesty offer aimed at Taleban foot soldiers, some of whom have waged an insurgency from the hills and caves of Afghanistan since the Islamic regime was ousted by a US-led operation in late 2001.
Chief Justice Fazel Hadi Shinwari said negotiations with militants from the fundamentalist movement were continuing and some more moderate Taleban were eyeing the olive branch. “One category of Taleban wants to come back and they have contacted us and the government ... and the government is providing them the opportunity to come back,” Shinwari said after the detainees were freed by the US military from Bagram Air Base near Kabul on Sunday before Eid Al-Adha.
A remaining hard core of fighters, estimated by government officials to number around 100 and “whose hands are stained with blood, are not eligible for the talks and the government will not reconcile with them,” Shinwari said. Speaking to reporters at the Supreme Court on Sunday, he said the release of prisoners has been instrumental in ongoing talks.
“One prisoner whose name is Mulla Qalamuddin, who was a commander of Taleban from Logar province, was released and then he went to Taleban and came back to us with the idea of reconciliation. There are contacts with the government,” Shinwari said, adding that the government was negotiating for the release of more prisoners.
However, a purported Taleban spokesman disagreed. “There hasn’t been any contact between the Taleban and the government,” Abdul Latif Hakimi told AFP by telephone from an unknown location. Around 18,000 US-led troops remain in Afghanistan hunting down militants linked to the Taleban and to Al-Qaeda.
President Hamid Karzai and US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad have indicated that ordinary Taleban who are not linked to Al-Qaeda or wanted for crimes against humanity would be welcome to return home and reintegrate into society.
Meanwhile Afghanistan is to send tons of medical and other aid to tsunami-hit Indonesia, the Defense Ministry said yesterday. Afghan airline Ariana will make its first ever flight from Kabul to devastated Banda Aceh in Indonesia with 20 medical personnel and supplies, said ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Azimi.
“Today at 2:00 p.m. we will send a team of doctors, emergency experts and 30 tons of food, blankets and medical supplies to Banda Aceh,” Azimi said. “A 20-strong team of doctors, nurses and relief workers and emergency experts will fly to Aceh and if needed we will send more help down there.”
