The Washington Post: Former Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo have played an important role in the peace agreement with America

The Washington Post revealed that five of the Afghan Taliban were among the detainees at Guantanamo prison who played a surprising but important role in reaching a peace agreement that the movement concluded in late February with the United States in the Qatari capital, Doha.

The newspaper described the five as "mysterious personalities", forming a high-level group of former Guantanamo prisoners, who were released by the administration of former US President Barack Obama in 2014, in a deal that launched the movement by the American Sergeant Bowie Bergdahl, who was captured by its fighters about that before. Three years.

The newspaper quoted current and former US officials and others from the Afghan movement, that the five men worked behind the scenes to drum up support for the agreement with the United States.

In a report by her correspondent, Messi Ryan, who specializes in military and national security issues, she stated that the prisoner exchange that took place that year sparked a storm of controversy between the Republican and Democratic parties in the corridors of Congress.

In a vote led by Republican members in September 2014, Congress passed a resolution condemning the Obama administration for failing to inform US lawmakers before the prisoner swap. Expressing "deep concern" about the risks to the national security of the United States.

In 2015, news reports spoke of the former five prisoners attempting to engage again in armed activity by communicating with "extremist networks", allegations that the Obama administration denied at the time.

The Washington Post cited examples that contradict the positions of US President Donald Trump and his aides on the issue of negotiating with the Taliban before and after they took office in the United States.

Prisoner exchange
In 2015, Trump, when he was a Republican presidential candidate, criticized the exchange of Taliban prisoners for US sergeant Bowie Bergdahl, describing the latter as "useless and a stinking traitor", and Taliban prisoners released as "five killers" who returned to battle again.

As for the current Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, he said at the time that he saw no evidence confirming that the behavior of the five men had become strong, and that they would "not try again to harm America."

In turn, the then-President of the Congressional Intelligence Committee, Lindsey Graham, sent a message in 2014 to the Senate Military Services Committee, saying, "The Taliban's hands are stained with American blood, and they will undoubtedly return - and without a doubt - to combat."

Graham stressed that Washington "has already released the Taliban Dream Team."

The same five men, who are now members of the Taliban negotiating team, were present when Pompeo was at the ceremony marking the signing of the peace agreement with the United States in the State of Qatar.

The agreement signed on February 29 stipulates a gradual withdrawal within 14 months of all American and foreign forces from Afghanistan, provided that the Taliban fulfill their security obligations and begin unprecedented direct peace negotiations with the Kabul government.

And the previous prisoners, who were arrested by the American forces in 2001, are Khairallah Sa’id, the governor of Khairkhwa, and Mulla Muhammad Fadl, Mullah Nurullah Nuri, Abd al-Haqq and Wasiq, alongside Muhammad Nabi Omari.

A calculated step
For his part, Pakistani journalist Tahir Khan considered the decision of the Taliban movement last year to include the five figures of its political committee "a calculated step that came at the right time."

Khan believes that the five Taliban have the same qualifications as the former senior movement leaders, as well as the confidence of the infantrymen.

A senior Taliban official - whom the newspaper did not name - said that the five men had made "tremendous sacrifices" for the movement, and were "trusted friends" of its founder, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Another Talabani official revealed that the movement's efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict gained momentum after the arrival of Khairkhawa, Fadl, and Abdul Ghani Baradar in particular in Doha.

Current and former officials indicated that Khakhir and a former prisoner is the former Taliban government communications official, Muhammad Nabi Omari; they participated vigorously in the months-long talks between US Special Envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and chief Taliban negotiator Pradar.