US yet to decide on release of Guantanamo Bay prisoners to facilitate Taliban talks

Washington, Jan 5(ANI): The United States has said it has yet not taken a decision to release prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay prison to facilitate peace talks with the Taliban.

With regard to Guantanamo... no decisions have been made with regard to any releases," The News quoted US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, as saying.

"We're not today, we're not in the future going to get into the details of these Afghan-led discussions. That's not productive to the process," she added, on being asked whether Afghanistan has demanded for the prisoners' release.

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar has demanded the release of Guantanamo Bay prisoners as a pre-condition of holding peace talks with the US.

Nuland said the US is "prepared to support" the proposal of establishing overseas Taliban office in accordance with international standards to facilitate an Afghan-led reconciliation process.

The Taliban had earlier said that they had arrived at an "initial agreement with relevant sides including Qatar" to set up their first representative office outside Afghanistan.

The move is seen as a precursor to peace talks aimed at ending the war between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government.

She stressed the United States and Afghanistan aim to achieve a true reconciliation, which envisages the Taliban giving up violence, ending its support for al Qaeda and embracing the Afghan constitution. (ANI)