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Khalilzad: Prisoners’ exchange is part of the US-Taliban agreement
Zalmay Khalilzad insisted that exchanging prisoners was a part of the US-Taliban deal, and Washington would try to remove every hurdle on the way to the Intra-Afghan talks; however, the presidential palace underlines that the release of the Taliban prisoners before the Intra-Afghan talks is not feasible.
The US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation is meeting Afghan leaders in Kabul. Khalilzad called the continuation of the violence a boundary against peace. Through tweets, Khalilzad talked about the US commitment to easing up the peace talks.
Khalilzad tweeted, “The US is committed to facilitating prisoner exchange, agreed in both US-Taliban Agreement & US-Afghanistan Joint Declaration. We will support each side to release significant numbers.”
In another tweet, he said, “We must act on all fronts to clear the road of obstacles that slows down our progress toward intra-Afghan negotiations. I once again call on all Afghans to rise to the occasion, put country first and not to lose this historic opportunity.”
The Presidential Palace, however, has a different viewpoint.
Latif Mahmoud, the deputy spokesperson of the Presidential Palace said, “People expect the Taliban to leave killing and start negotiations with the government. Releasing prisoners will be a part of the agenda of the Intra-Afghan talks.”
This comes as the Wall Street Journal, based on a source at Arg, wrote that President Ghani refused to meet Khalilzad on Wednesday. This was rejected by Mahmoud though.
Noorullah Jalili, leader of Hezb-e-Madarwatan, said, “Both the laterals should use this opportunity and release the prisoners.”
Khalilzad has met Abdullah Abdullah, Hamid Karzai, and other political figures, lately.
Sources in the office of CE indicate that Abdullah Abdullah agreed on releasing the Taliban prisoners.
Omid Maisam, Abdulah’s deputy spokesperson said, “In this meeting, both the laterals talked over peace and the election’s crisis. Khalilzad applauded Abdullah for his goodwill on peace.”
Based on the US-Taliban agreement, the Intra-Afghan talks is supposed to start in five days, however, President Ghani not only disagreed with releasing 5000 prisoners of the Taliban but also hasn’t reached to an agreement with the political figures to form the negotiating delegation.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Islamic Emirate’s Foreign Minister, met with Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Jihad, in Kabul on Thursday.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides held comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations, expanding economic and transit cooperation, and holding the seventh meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries.
Muttaqi welcomed the progress in practical economic and transit cooperation between Afghanistan and Iran, saying there are further opportunities to expand bilateral ties.
Iran’s agriculture minister also stressed the importance of making use of existing opportunities for cooperation in various sectors and called for expanding current areas of cooperation.
Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) has unveiled a new visa card and HesabPay mobile application as part of efforts to expand digital financial services in Afghanistan.
The new products were introduced at an event in Kabul on Thursday, where Ahmad Shahpoor Mia Khail, the bank’s deputy governor for supervision, urged Afghans to use digital cards for payments and cash withdrawals.
Mia Khail said improving public trust and providing better financial services remain among the bank’s priorities, describing the digitization of the financial system as a key step toward electronic transactions.
“Our sole objective is to enable every Afghan to make payments using a card, mobile phone or other means,” he said.
Officials from several companies said around one million active customers in Afghanistan currently use HesabPay services, adding that they are committed to expanding access to financial services.
Ahmad Khalid Wadan, the owner of one of the companies, said the initiative aims to help build “a strong, secure and reliable digital financial system” in Afghanistan.
Da Afghanistan Bank has repeatedly called for the digitization of monetary and commercial transactions, saying it can improve transparency and efficiency and help expand economic activity.
Human Rights Watch in a statement on Wednesday called for the release of two UN staffers and six NGO workers in Afghanistan.
HRW said that six male staff working with the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) had been “forcibly disappeared” from the NGO’s Kabul office last month. The NGO has been involved in aid programmes and advocacy on women’s and children’s rights, HRW said.
In a separate incident, Human Rights Watch also called for the release of two Afghan staff members of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), who were detained by IEA officials in the western city of Herat on Sunday.
The IEA’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters that he was “trying to gather details” about the recent detentions, but had “not received final clarity.”
The UN confirmed the detention of two of its staffers earlier this week. “UNAMA has not been informed of the charges against them and has not been permitted to visit them,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said in a briefing on Wednesday.
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the detentions of UNAMA staff threatened the UN’s “ability to deliver lifesaving aid.”
As the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA is involved in human rights monitoring and data gathering. Its reports have frequently been criticised by the IEA government in the past.
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