A senior Pakistani official says Islamabad will soon release Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in a bid to help the ongoing peace process in neighboring Afghanistan.
Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, said that Islamabad was ready to release the Afghan Talibans former second-in-command within the next 48 hours in an effort to help the peace process in the neighboring war-torn country, the daily Dawn newspaper reported on Monday.
Baradar, however, will not be handed over to authorities in Afghanistan, Aziz added.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be freed into Pakistan and he will remain in the country until he decides himself to move anywhere he deems necessary to initiate the peace process, he added.
Mullah Baradar was captured in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
Baradar was one of the co-founders of the Taliban in 1994 and was reported to be a close aide of Mullah Omar, the chief of the Taliban.
Pakistan has released dozens of high-profile Afghan Taliban prisoners over the past few months.
Afghanistan is seeking help from its neighbor to open up a direct channel of communication with Taliban militants. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged Pakistan several times to facilitate the peace talks with the militant group.
The Taliban have so far refused to contact the Afghan government because they consider Karzai a US puppet. The Afghan High Peace Council has been making efforts to initiate dialogue with the militants.
The relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust. Afghanistan and Pakistan blame each other for the Taliban violence plaguing both countries.
Over a decade of the costly US-led war in Afghanistan has failed to end the militancy in the country and the US, which has thousands of troops on the ground in Afghanistan, is now trying to sit down for talks with the Taliban militants
PressTV - Pakistan to free Afghan Taliban leader
This is total surrender...
Sartaj Aziz, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's adviser on foreign affairs, said that Islamabad was ready to release the Afghan Talibans former second-in-command within the next 48 hours in an effort to help the peace process in the neighboring war-torn country, the daily Dawn newspaper reported on Monday.
Baradar, however, will not be handed over to authorities in Afghanistan, Aziz added.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will be freed into Pakistan and he will remain in the country until he decides himself to move anywhere he deems necessary to initiate the peace process, he added.
Mullah Baradar was captured in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.
Baradar was one of the co-founders of the Taliban in 1994 and was reported to be a close aide of Mullah Omar, the chief of the Taliban.
Pakistan has released dozens of high-profile Afghan Taliban prisoners over the past few months.
Afghanistan is seeking help from its neighbor to open up a direct channel of communication with Taliban militants. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged Pakistan several times to facilitate the peace talks with the militant group.
The Taliban have so far refused to contact the Afghan government because they consider Karzai a US puppet. The Afghan High Peace Council has been making efforts to initiate dialogue with the militants.
The relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust. Afghanistan and Pakistan blame each other for the Taliban violence plaguing both countries.
Over a decade of the costly US-led war in Afghanistan has failed to end the militancy in the country and the US, which has thousands of troops on the ground in Afghanistan, is now trying to sit down for talks with the Taliban militants
PressTV - Pakistan to free Afghan Taliban leader
This is total surrender...
