Taliban urge Pakistan to free senior leader

A senior Taliban leader whom Pakistan said it had released in an effort to facilitate Afghan peace talks remains in prison, the Taliban said yesterday. The report, if true, is likely to renew concerns about Pakistan’s commitment to peace talks.

The Taliban said in a written statement that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a founder of the Islamist movement whom many believe is key to the restarting of peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, "is still spending days and nights locked up behind bars in worrisome health conditions, which are deteriorating by the day".

Pakistan announced last month that it had released Baradar, who was captured more than three years ago in a joint raid by the CIA and Pakistani intelligence in the Arabian Sea port of Karachi.

Baradar’s detention quickly became a point of contention with Afghan authorities. They insisted he was detained for making peace overtures without the blessing of the Pakistani military, and viewed his continued imprisonment as an effort by Pakistan to undermine the stalled peace process.

During a visit to Pakistan in the summer, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan pressed for Baradar to be released. When the announcement came in September that Baradar was finally set free, it was immediately hailed in Kabul and Washington as a sign that Pakistan, under new prime minister Nawaz Sharif, was sincere about moving forward peace talks and improving relations with Afghanistan.

The Taliban, though, did not confirm Baradar's release at the time. Their silence reinforced doubts about what influence Baradar, a former deputy to the movement's leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, would have within the insurgency after a long stint in prison. Yesterday, it appeared the question remains moot. Baradar remained in prison, the Taliban said. – (New York Times)