Taliban appoint five former Guantanamo inmates to Qatar office to take part in Afghanistan peace talks

The 'Taliban Five' were released in 2014 as part of an exchange freeing Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl

The five men were held at Guantanamo Bay for years (Getty)

Five senior members of the Taliban who were once detained in Guantanamo Bay have joined the insurgent group’s team negotiating in Qatar with the US – as the Trump administration attempts to extricate itself from the costly conflict in Afghanistan.

In a development of great significance the former fighters are now designated as official members of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, which has been holding talks with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at finding a negotiated settlement to the long war.

The men, who include the former heads of the Taliban government’s army, the deputy intelligence chief, two governors and a minister, were freed in 2014 in exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, the only American soldier to have been captured by insurgents in Afghanistan.

At the same time the new government in Pakistan has released a senior Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had been in jail since 2010. He tried to carry out secret talks with the Kabul government of Hamid Karzai without the knowledge of the Pakistani intelligence service, ISI, and elements of the military.

The Afghan government and American and British officials had repeatedly accused sections of the Pakistani defence establishment of controlling the Taliban to carry out attacks in Afghanistan – a charge Pakistan denies – and Mullah Baradar was said to have paid the price for trying to hide his independent initiative.

The Mullah’s followers in the Taliban had been demanding that he is freed without success until now. His release, it is believed, has taken place following extensive international diplomatic talks aimed at driving the Qatar talks forward. Two weeks ago Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, told The Independent in Islamabad that he intended to take a leading role in achieving an Afghan settlement.

The “Taliban Five”, now in the peace process, are Mohammed Fazl, the former Taliban army chief who had been accused of the sectarian massacre of thousands of Shias in 2000; Khairullah Khairkhwa, former governor of Herat province who was said to be close to Osama bin Laden as well as Mullah Omar; deputy intelligence chief Mullah Norullah Nori, who was also close to Mullah Omar and Nabi Omari, a governor and telecommunications chief.

The five have been living in Qatar since under various restrictions in their activities, including political involvement and joining the Taliban office in the country.

The administration of Donald Trump, frustrated at the cost of the longest war in American history – at least $900bn (£706bn) so far – is said to have agreed to the former inmates involvement in the talks as it seeks a way out. But senior figures in his Republican party had attacked the Obama administration for the Bergdahl deal, condemning the release of the “hardest of the hardcore” Taliban.

The same trepidation about the Guantanamo group’s hardline views was expressed by a number of observers who held that the introduction of men who were close to the Taliban’s founder Mullah Mohammed Omar, and had followed his uncompromising interpretation of Islam, may not actually ease the road to a settlement. Some also held that the Afghan government of Ashraf Ghani was too divided and weak at the moment to negotiate.

Haroun Mir, a political analyst in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said: “The Taliban are bringing back their old generation, which means the Taliban have not changed their thinking or their leadership.

“[But] what we are more worried about is if tomorrow the Taliban say ‘we are ready to negotiate’, who will represent Kabul? That is the big challenge because the government is so divided, not just ideologically but on ethnic lines.”

Mohammed Ismail Qasimyar, a member of the Afghan government peace council, stated that the US must not decide his country’s future with the Taliban, and Zalmay Khalilzad’s role should be to just arrange talks between the Islamists and Kabul. It has been the Afghan view that the nation’s sovereignty will be fatally breached if America, a third party, undertook direct negotiations with the insurgency. The Taliban, however, have so far refused to engage with the Kabul government, dismissing it as a puppet of the west.

Dr Mutlaq al-Qahtani, special envoy of the Qatari foreign minister for counter-terrorism and conflict resolution, said : “My understanding is that the government of Afghanistan had no objection to these men from Guantanamo joining. They understand the reasons. Bearing in mind the role these guys used to have, maybe they could play a positive role in the national reconciliation and in the peace process in Afghanistan. Americans have the same hope this new development will add value to the office, to the Taliban delegation.”

Speaking at the fringes of an international conference, “Forum On Returning Foreign Fighters”, in Doha, Dr al-Qahtani added “We are very closely cooperating with our partners in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US to facilitate any measures which may be helpful. It is in everyone’s interest to talk genuinely about peace. I hope the Taliban understands that.” On the freeing of Mullah Baradar, he added: “We hear that this individual would be able to help the peace process in some ways.”

The Qatari deputy prime minister and minister of defence, Khalid bin Mohamed al Attiyah, said: “We are interlocutors in the talks between the US and the Taliban so it is for them to make comments on this. But from my own perspective and humble experience it is not bad to have someone who has been your enemy to be at talks about peace.” He wanted to stress that Qatar had consistently supported talks between parties in a conflict in Afghanistan and elsewhere and Qatar has been a scene of dialogue involving the Taliban in the past.

Following his release Mullah Baradar is said to have released an audio tape in which he promised his Taliban supporters that he would play a constructive role in the future. He was freed following a visit to Pakistan by Mr Khalilzad after he was appointed US envoy for the negotiations.

Imran Khan told The Independent that he fully supported the talks in Qatar. The Pakistani prime minister said: “My always stated belief was that there’s only one solution in Afghanistan and that’s through a political solution. Finally the Americans are also on that wavelength, when previously this was not the case ... So I would, as the first prime minister in Pakistan actually, want to take a lead in talks between Taliban and the Americans. This is possible, there is a synergy there now.”

Hakim Mujahed, a former Taliban who is now a member of the Afghan government peace council, held that the presence of the former Guantanamo detainees in the Qatar office showed that the Islamist group is serious about seeking a deal. The stature of the five may persuade younger fighters who want to continue seeking a military victory to agree to negotiations. “These people are respected among all the Taliban.Their word carries weight with the Taliban leadership and the mujahideen,” said Mr Mujahed.