For months, U.S. and Afghan officials have secretly negotiated the release of U.S. detainees — a priority for President Trump and a nonnegotiable prerequisite for any further diplomatic engagement with the Taliban.
Yet even as at least five U.S. prisoners have been freed from Afghanistan over the past year, talks have stalled over the fate of remaining detainees, according to three people involved in the negotiations.
While several U.S. prisoners remain in custody, Afghan officials say the release of the last Afghan inmate at Guantánamo Bay rests with the United States and should be part of any further deal.
The Guantánamo inmate’s case and the whereabouts of a U.S. citizen in Afghan custody remain a central flashpoint between the Trump administration, which accuses Afghanistan of hostage diplomacy, and a Taliban government that denies those accusations while it seeks recognition from the United States.
“We want these two American detainees to be released, and, at the same time, the fate of our detainee who is in Guantánamo should be made clear,” Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said in an interview with The Times in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar — the first time Afghan officials are making their demand public. “Our prisoner should be released.”
The Afghan detainee, Muhammad Rahim, is accused of acting as a courier and interpreter for Osama Bin Laden within Al Qaeda.
Why the Taliban have decided to comment publicly on a potential prisoner swap is unclear. But it signals an impasse in negotiations with the Trump administration, which has publicly demanded the release of at least three Americans.
