AFGHANISTAN: Taliban name negotiating team before new talks with US

The Taliban has named a 14-member team of negotiators, including five former Guantanamo Bay inmates and a high-profile jailed leader, for the second round of talks with the United States. With the move announced on Tuesday, the group has pushed for the release of Anas Haqqani, younger brother of the leader of the powerful Taliban […]

The Taliban has named a 14-member team of negotiators, including five former Guantanamo Bay inmates and a high-profile jailed leader, for the second round of talks with the United States.

With the move announced on Tuesday, the group has pushed for the release of Anas Haqqani, younger brother of the leader of the powerful Taliban faction, Haqqani network. He is currently held in a jail in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said Haqqani “should be released to start work on the negotiating team”. He said Haqqani “was a student at the time of his arrest and was not involved in any activity for which he should be arrested”.

The Taliban negotiating team has been announced in advance of talks this month with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been meeting with the armed group in Qatar’s capital Doha to try to end America’s longest war.