Amid reports of secret discussions between Washington and the Taliban over the release of American prisoners in Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman has said that the group is ready to exchange prisoners on its own terms.
Zabihullah Mujahid claimed that the Biden administration has not yet taken steps to exchange American prisoners.
"We hope that Afghan prisoners will be released from Guantanamo prison because it is a bilateral deal," he said.
George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett, and Mahmood Shah Habibi are three US citizens who have been held by the Taliban since 2022.
In exchange for the release of these American citizens, the Taliban has demanded the release of the last Afghan prisoner, Mohammad Rahim Afghan, from Guantanamo Bay. He is being held for alleged links to Osama bin Laden, the former leader of al-Qaeda.
Recently, an anonymous Taliban official told the Guardian that the group has postponed negotiations on a prisoner exchange until the beginning of the Trump administration.
The issue of the prisoner exchange between the United States and the Taliban has been complicated after the Taliban denied the arrest of Mahmood Shah Habibi, but US officials and Mahmood Shah's family believe that he is with the Taliban.
Ahmad Shah Habibi, the brother of Mahmood Habibi, said in an interview with Afghanistan International that in a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden, he was assured that his brother is one of the important issues in the negotiations with the Taliban.
