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May 8th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Gavin Sundwall, spokesman for the US embassy in Kabul, said the programme was
two years old and “rarely used”.
Commanders from both the American and Afghan forces deliberated on releasing
prisoners who were “willing to denounce violence and engage in the
process of reconciliation”.
He said: “Fewer than 20 detainees have ever been released under this
program, and the decision to release a detainee takes into account whether
they pose any further security threat.”
The release of prisoners has become a significant hurdle to embryonic peace
contacts aimed at finding a political settlement to the conflict.
Contacts in Qatar appeared to founder earlier this year when Taliban
negotiators pulled out saying America had broken a promise to transfer five
leaders from Guantánamo Bay, in Cuba, to looser custody in the Gulf state.
Releasing the men from Guantánamo requires congressional approval and is seen
by analysts as a risky move for Barack Obama during a presidential election
campaign.
However while Bagram prison is second only to Guantánamo for holding the most
senior Taliban prisoners from the decade-long Nato-led campaign, their
release does not need approval from Congress, the Washington Post reported.
The United States agreed to hand over control of Bagram prison to the Afghan
army earlier this year, during negotiations over a 10-year strategic deal
governing American aid to the country after 2014.
Senior prisoners have in the past been transferred to Afghan custody only to
be then released under murky circumstances and Western officials have said
Afghan custody is a “revolving door” for any insurgent with money
or political links.
In the most notorious example, Mullah Abdul Qayum Zakir, was released into
Afghan custody from Guantánamo in 2007 only to be freed to rejoin his
Taliban comrades and rise quickly through the ranks to a senior leadership
post.
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