Conditional release of Taliban prisoners against peace accord: spokesperson

PESHAWAR: The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday said the conditional release of prisoners by President Ashraf Ghani was against the peace agreement signed on Feb 29 in Doha.
Reuters quoted spokesman for the Taliban in Doha Suhail Shaheen as saying that the peace accord between the Taliban and United States clearly mentioned that peace dialogue would kick off after release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
While, spokesperson for the Afghan president Sediq Seddiqi said 5,000 prisoners would be released if Taliban refrained from attacking Afghan forces.
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“Ashraf Ghani had signed the decree that would facilitate the release of some Taliban prisoners in accordance with an accepted framework for the start of negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government,” he stated in a tweet.
The British news agency said several official sources had confirmed that 1,000 Taliban prisoners were likely to be released within a week.
Taliban spokesperson said they never agreed to any conditional release of the prisoners.
ON March 9, Taliban had said peace talks with the Afghan government scheduled to begin on March 10 were unlikely to take place.
According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid no practical step had yet been taken regarding the release of Taliban prisoners by the government. He had said talks would not begin due to disagreement between rivals for presidency.