Agreement reached on release of Pakistani prisoners

Human rights activists and independent analysts have welcomed the announcement of the release of hundreds of pro-Taliban Pakistani prisoners of war from neighbouring Afghanistan. "In principle, there has been a decision by Afghanistan about the release of Pakistani prisoners of war," Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told reporters in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday. "The first batch will be released soon," he added. Afghan diplomatic sources told IRIN that no agreement on the numbers of prisoners to be released had yet been reached. The announcement follows growing concern over the conditions of thousands of detainees arising after recent media reports about the discovery of mass graves in northern Afghanistan, where thousands of Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners - many among them Pakistanis - languish in overcrowded jails. "It augurs well for the relations of Pakistan and Afghanistan," Samina Ahmed, the head of the International Crisis Group office for Pakistan and Afghanistan, told IRIN, welcoming the announcement. "A lot of them were folks misled by extremist mullahs - they were not die-hard militants," she said. Thousands of Pakistani pro-Taliban militants were imprisoned following the demise of the hardline Taliban late last year. Ahmed maintained that the move also indicated the powerful Northern Alliance’s willingness to moderate relations with Pakistan. Abdullah Abdullah is a senior Northern Alliance leader. Sharing such views was Afrasiab Khattak, head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. "It will not only end the agony of the prisoners and their families but will have a positive impact on the relationship of the two peoples," he told IRIN from the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Khattak explained that by taking such a wise step, the Afghan government wanted to bury a dark part of the recent past that had been haunting the relationship between the two countries. Asked whether the influx of hundreds of militants after their release would further undermine the government’s efforts to curb religious extremism in the country, he maintained that bringing about the reform of such extremists was the duty of the Pakistani government and civil society. "Keeping them in Afghan prisons is no solution," he said. In response to a related question, Abdullah said that the issue of thousands of Afghan prisoners suffering in Pakistani detention centres across the country had also been discussed. He reiterated the Afghan government’s stance that it would like to secure the release of innocent Afghan prisoners. "We witnessed a willingness on the Pakistani side, and of course there is a desire on our side to see the situation change," he said. Khattak suggested that Pakistan should reciprocate by releasing Afghan prisoners. "This will be a nice gesture of goodwill and friendship," he said.