Signs Emerge of Major Sticking Point in US-Taliban Agreement

The Taliban are threatening to stay away from intra-Afghan peace talks if the government in Kabul continues to balk at releasing some 5,000 prisoners it is holding. There are also reports that they are poised to resume hostilities. A prisoner swap is part of an agreement the Taliban signed with the United States on Saturday in Doha, Qatar, the goal being to jump-start peace talks and effect a withdrawal of foreign troops. The accord calls on the Taliban themselves to free some 1,000 government troops, with a target date of March 10 for both sides. On Sunday, Afghanistan’s president, Ashraf Ghani, said the subject of prisoners is supposed to be addressed only as part of wider peace talks. “We are fully ready for the intra-Afghan talks, but we are waiting for the release of our 5,000 prisoners,” the Reuters news agency reported Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying. “If our 5,000 prisoners – 100 or 200 more or less does not matter – do not get released, there will be no intra-Afghan talks.”