Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Mullah Baradar Freed from Pakistani Prison, HPC Welcomes Move

Mullah Baradar Freed from  Pakistani Prison, HPC Welcomes Move

KABUL - In an effort to accelerate the stalled peace process, Pakistani government released Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban's second-in-command, from prison on Saturday.

On Friday, the Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry through a statement announced that Islamabad would release Baradar, a close aide of the Taliban's supreme commander Mullah Muhammad Omar, in order to facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process.

"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, the detained Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, would be released tomorrow (21 September 2013)," the statement said.

The officials of the High Peace Council (HPC) warmly welcomed the release and said that the move will definitely have a positive impact on the peace process.

"We had put in efforts to contact Mullah Baradar and seek his support for the success of the peace process. His release will surely have a positive impact on the peace process," Shahzada Shahid, the spokesman of the HPC told TOLOnews.

On the contrary, several Afghan political experts and a group of former Taliban members raised concerns over the release of Baradar and its effect on the peace process. Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, the former leader of the Taliban's Jaish-ul-Muslimin Movement (JMM), said that the release of Baradar will not have any impact on the peace process.

"Pakistan is trying to destroy the Taliban's office in Qatar by releasing Mullah Baradar and set-up another office for the group in Turkey or Saudi Arabia," said Mr. Agha.

Earlier this month, it was suggested by the Pakistani officials that Baradar would be released and subsequently sent to Turkey or Saudia Arabia to participate in the next iteration of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Last week, Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while speaking at a press conference in Turkey said that the former Taliban second-in-command Mullah Ghani Baradar would be released this month.

Prime Minister Sharif made the announcement after meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Afghan government had requested Sharif and his government in August to release Baradar.

At the press conference in Turkey, Sharif said that he had agreed to release Baradar during President Hamid Karzai's visit to Pakistan last month. The Pakistani Prime Minister said his government would decide on the "mechanics" of the release after he returned to Pakistan on September 19, but gave no further details.

The peace process stalled back in June when the inauguration of the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar sparked controversy that left Kabul and Washington at odds, the office of Doha out of favor and the Taliban again resistant to negotiations. Since then, the Afghan government has increasingly shown itself willing to warm-up to and compromise with the insurgent group in order to get the peace process back on track.

The release of Taliban prisoners has been one of the main strategies Kabul has employed in recent months. The thought behind it is that the releases will cultivate good-will between the Taliban and the Afghan government as well as make certain key militant leaders who have been detained available for negotiations. Although Pakistan obliged President Karzai by releasing seven Taliban prisoners earlier in September, they were all low to mid-level operatives. Baradar is considered one of the crucial figures who could take a lead in peace talks for the Taliban.

However, U.S. officials and some Afghan security experts have expressed anxiety about the release of Taliban prisoners, suggesting that without the proper precautions and mechanisms in place the released detainees could easily return to the battlefield.

Mullah Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan in 2010. Baradar is one of the four men who founded the Taliban in Afghanistan in 1994. (Tolo News)