Karzai Govt Releasing Taliban Prisoners
Reuters reports:
"I would be the last person to release the Taliban -- my position is for more tough measures against them."
The Defense Ministry and National Directorate of Security, President Karzai's office and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force all declined to respond to questions on Ghulam Haidar's case or the wider issue of Taliban releases.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry, which controls the police, said it had not been involved in release of any Taliban.
"We have no evidence and no examples that detained Taliban were released by government officials," Zemarai Bashary said.
Haidar was one of the most high-profile insurgents in recent years to slip through prisoner release mechanisms that are designed to prevent innocent men from languishing in prison but are regularly exploited by the Taliban to free key commanders.
"The Taliban operate a commission for prisoners affairs and effecting releases is among its responsibilities," said Michael Semple, a Harvard University fellow with over 20 years experience in Afghanistan and extensive contacts with the Taliban.
"It's systemic. It is well beyond the level of having the occasional success," he added.
Another source also confirmed the committee's existence, although in practical terms most release operations were conceived and directed at the local level.
In cases like Ghulam Haidar, political connections are key.
One of the most high-profile examples in recent years was the 2007 release of Dastagir, a Taliban leader from northwestern Badghis province. President Karzai himself ordered the commander freed after village elders promised he would renounce violence.
His return to battle united feuding Taliban factions and he was personally responsible for the deaths of at least 32 Afghan policemen in attacks he organized before he was killed in 2009, said a government source from western Afghanistan.
Sometimes cash is more effective.
One source told Reuters Ahmad Wali Karzai had paid tens of thousands of dollars to secure the release of another Taliban commander, Anwar Shah Agha, who operates in the area to the west of Kandahar city and was captured in May 2009.
He was released by Afghan security forces in Kabul in March 2010, and has since returned to the battlefield.
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