[Dawn] Pakistain plans to release all Afghan Taliban prisoners still in its detention, including the group's former second-in-command, an official said on Friday, the clearest signal yet that it backs reconciliation efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan."The remaining detainees, we are coordinating, and they will be released subsequently," Jalil Jilani, Pakistain's foreign secretary, said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.
Asked if the former Taliban number-2 Mullah Baradar would be among those to be released, he said: "The aim is to release all," without elaborating further.
Jilani was speaking after meeting the acting US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistain, David Pearce, and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Jawed Luddin at the Afghan embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Luddin told news hounds the purpose of the meeting was to discuss "security and political dimensions of bilateral relationships" between the three countries.
Luddin said the grinding of the peace processor had gained momentum in recent weeks with the release of some Taliban detainees by Pakistain, preparations by the Afghan Taliban movement to open a political office in Doha, and Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
... 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
Pashtunface 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...
's visit to Washington.
"Steps have been taken forward in an environment of cooperation and shared concerns ... 2013 is a very crucial year and we agreed we need to maintain the momentum," he said.
"2013 will see concrete outcomes in the grinding of the peace processor."
At their meeting a week ago, Karzai and US President Barack Obama
I don't sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar, we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick...
agreed to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, raising the prospect of an accelerated US withdrawal.
Karzai also appeared to give ground on US demands for immunity from prosecution for any American troops who stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, a concession that could allow Obama to keep at least a small residual force there.