Pakistan releases top-ranking Afghan Taliban prisoner

Baradar’s release is considered at the core of Afghan efforts to re-launch a stalled peace process as United States-led NATO troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 and fears grow over the country’s future security without their presence.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry announced late on Friday that Baradar – who held several senior positions in the Taliban government before its collapse in 2001 – would be freed a day later, and on Saturday, Pakistani television reported he had been released.

“The Afghan government welcomes Pakistan’s decision to release Mullah Baradar,” said Aimal Faizi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“This release has occurred because of the Afghan government’s consistent pressure requesting that Mullah Baradar be set free,” he said.

Elusive peace

The Afghan government has long pressed Pakistan to free Baradar, who was reportedly arrested in a secret joint raid with the CIA in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in 2010.

The US also wants the Afghan government to strike a peace deal with the Taliban before it pulls out the majority of its combat troops from Afghanistan next year. But the US urged Pakistan not to release Baradar but keep him under house arrest, because of concerns he would return to the battlefield, officials said.

Baradar was said to once have been a close friend of the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. He is believed to be one of the few senior Taliban figureheads to have shown a willingness to enter peace negotiations.

Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, who served as foreign minister when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, hailed Bardar’s release and warned Pakistan not to try to restrict his movements.

“They also have to allow him contact with Taliban leaders and for him to be useful for peace in Afghanistan,” Muttawakil told The Associated Press.

‘Just a show’

Critics, however, question whether Baradar’s release would contribute to peace-building, saying his lengthy detention had weakened both his influence and position in the Taliban.

“This is a very, very meagre step. It will not bring peace. It is just a show,” said Mohammad Daoud Sultanzai, an Afghan political commentator and talk show host.

“He doesn’t have an importance among the Taliban leadership, or any other leadership that would be able to deliver anything with authority.”

But Baradar remains respected by field commanders in Afghanistan, and a call to lay down arms from a co-founder of the insurgency is likely to be taken seriously.

It is not known where Baradar would travel following his release. Sources in Pakistan have said he could be sent to Turkey or Saudi Arabia to help jump-start peace talks with the Taliban after the most recent round of talks, which broke down in the Qatari capital Doha in June.

Afghanistan wants Baradar to be handed to authorities there, but Pakistan has so far refused to do so.