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India-Pakistan
Pakistan confirms talks with Afghanistan over Taliban prisoners
2012-08-11
[Dawn] Pakistain and Afghanistan are in talks on the release of Afghan prisoners, a Pak foreign ministry official confirmed Friday. A key member of the Taliban, whose 2010 arrest in Pakistain was blamed for sabotaging peace initiatives, is presumed to be one of the prisoners.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a powerful Taliban military chief who has been described as the militia's second in command, was tossed in the clink
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
in the port city of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
.

The Afghan government and the former UN envoy to Afghanistan said his detention had adversely affected efforts to talk to the turbans.

"The issue of prisoners is under discussion between the two countries," foreign ministry front man Moazzam Ahmad Khan told news hounds when asked to comment on Afghan demands for access to Baradar and for his release.

The front man did not name any prisoner or give further details, but when asked, confirmed that Baradar was still in Pak custody.

Baradar is the most important Taliban leader to be captured since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Afghan militia from power in Kabul.

He was known as a trusted aide to the Taliban's elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Shortly after Baradar's arrest, the Pentagon said two other Taliban officials were tossed in the clink
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
, also understood to have been captured in Pakistain.

Afghanistan's top peace negotiator Salahuddin Rabbani was due in Islamabad earlier this week to discuss Pakistain's possible role in the reconciliation efforts. Rabbani was most likely to demand Pakistain's help in bringing the Taliban leadership to the negotiating table as well as the release of Taliban leaders like Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who Afghans believe could be very helpful for the reconciliation process.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
Rabbani -- who took over from his father Burhanuddin Rabbani
... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan...
as chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, delayed his visit due to Pak-Afghan tensions over cross-border shelling.

In March 2010, Kai Eide, the then just retired UN envoy to Afghanistan, said the arrest of key Taliban in Pakistain had stopped a secret channel of communication between the forces of Evil and the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
.

Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
has repeatedly invited the Taliban to open direct talks with his government and on Pakistain to facilitate an end to the 10-year war.
Posted by:Fred

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