Afghan authorities have released an important Taliban commander after a powerful tribe threatened to cut ties with the country's fledgling administration. Mullah Rehmatullah was freed after four days in custody. He is the first detained Taliban leader to be freed by the Afghan authorities. "I have been interrogated by the Afghan authorities, but they did not hand me over to U.S. authorities because no charge was proved against me," Rehmatullah told Reuters by telephone after the release. A commander of the powerful Noorzai tribe confirmed he bargained for Rehmatullah's release by threatening to cut ties with the Afghan authorities unless the Taliban officer was freed. "We had told authorities in Kandahar and Spin Boldak that we will withdraw our cooperation if Mullah Rehmatullah was not freed," a Noorzai tribal commander told Reuters.
Okay. I think we can leave Afghanistan now. Nothing we can do there. It's their country, and they'll screw it up as they please, which they are in the process of doing. |