The Taliban Five were five Afghan detainees at Guantanamo Bay and former high-ranking members of the Taliban government of Afghanistan who, after being held since 2002, indefinitely without charges, were exchanged in 2014 for United States Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.[1][2]
For several years there were rumors that the Obama Presidency's negotiations with the Taliban hinged over the release of these men.[3][4][5][6] The Taliban wanted the men to be sent to Qatar. The United States was reported to be considering freeing them if the Taliban would release Bowe Bergdahl, a soldier the Taliban had been holding since 2009.[7] The Taliban Five were released to custody in Doha, Qatar on June 1, 2014. Bergdahl, upon his release, was tried by general court-martial on charges of desertion, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to be dishonorably discharged.
The Taliban Five had been described as "the hardest of the hard-core" by John McCain and James Franklin Jeffrey. All five were deemed "high" risk to the United States and were recommended for "continued detention".[8] This reversed a position McCain held only four months earlier. McCain said his stance had changed only because the previous proposal was to release five "hard-core" Taliban leaders as a "confidence-building measure." The subsequent proposal was to be an actual exchange of prisoners. "I would be inclined to support such a thing, depending on a lot of details," he said.[9] The Wall Street Journal described the identity of the five men as an "open secret", since members of Congress had been briefed on the negotiations.[1]
The Taliban Five were involved in peace talks to end the conflict in Afghanistan with the U.S. in March 2019.[10]
- ^ a b "The Taliban Five: Meet the men the U.S. might release as a goodwill gesture". Wall Street Journal. February 13, 2012. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
The Obama Administration is pursuing peace talks with the Taliban, and as a goodwill gesture it has been leaking the news that it may pre-emptively release five of their leaders held at Guantanamo.
- ^ Andy Worthington (March 23, 2012). "The "Taliban Five" and the Forgotten Afghan Prisoners in Guantánamo". Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
- ^ M K Bhadrakumar (January 10, 2012). "There's more to peace than Taliban". Asia Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
Nevertheless, Iranian media insist that three high-ranking Taliban leaders have been released – Mullah Khairkhawa, former interior minister; Mullah Noorullah Noori, a former governor; and Mullah Fazl Akhund, the Taliban's chief of army staff – in exchange for an American soldier held by the Taliban.
- ^ Carol Rosenberg (March 12, 2012). "Taliban prisoners at Guantánamo OK transfer". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on March 25, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
Five top Taliban leaders held by the U.S. in the Guantánamo Bay military prison told a visiting Afghan delegation they agree to a proposed transfer to the tiny Gulf state of Qatar, opening the door for a possible move aimed at bringing the Taliban into peace talks, Afghan officials said Saturday.
- ^ "Guantanamo Taliban inmates 'agree to Qatar transfer'". BBC News. March 10, 2012. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
If the president pursues this strategy, though, he will need support from wary politicians in Congress, our correspondent says. Many there see a transfer of what they call the most dangerous inmates at Guantanamo as a step too far, he adds.
- ^ Hamid Shalizi (March 10, 2012). "Taliban Guantanamo detainees agree to Qatar transfer – official". Reuters. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
Karzai's top aide, Ibrahim Spinzada, visited the Guantanamo facility this week to secure approval from the five Taliban prisoners to be moved to Qatar.
- ^ Thomas Joscelyn (June 21, 2013). "The Taliban Five at Guantanamo". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
Shortly after opening its political office in Doha, Qatar earlier this week, the Taliban floated the idea of exchanging U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been in captivity since 2009, for the top five Taliban leaders in U.S. custody at Guantanamo. The offer, which has been a longstanding Taliban demand, was first reported by the Associated Press.
- ^ "John McCain says five Taliban detainees freed in Bowe Bergdahl exchange 'are the hardest of the hard-core'". PolitiFact. Archived from the original on January 27, 2015. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
- ^ Mataconis, Doug. "John McCain Was For Trading Taliban Prisoners For Sgt. Bergdahl Before He Was Against It". Outside the Beltway.
- ^ "Once Jailed in Guantánamo, 5 Taliban Now Face U.S. at Peace Talks". The New York Times. March 27, 2019.