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Taliban offers to swap captured GI for five senior commanders held at Gitmo

By
Andy Soltis
Published June 21, 2013, 4:00 a.m. ET
CAPTIVE: Army Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl (left), in a 2010 video grab, has been held since 2009 by the Taliban, which is now seeking a prisoner exchange. IntelCenter
Mullah Norullah Noori

Mullah Norullah Noori

Abdul Haq Wasiq

Abdul Haq Wasiq

CAPTIVE: Army Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl (left), in a 2010 video grab, has been held since 2009 by the Taliban, which is now seeking a prisoner exchange. (AP)

CAPTIVE: Army Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl (left), in a 2010 video grab, has been held since 2009 by the Taliban, which is now seeking a prisoner exchange. (
)

The Taliban is offering to swap the only GI held captive in the Afghan war for five senior insurgents imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay — including one who had direct ties to Osama bin Laden.

Idaho-born Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, disappeared from his base near the Pakistan border on June 30, 2009, and has been seen in only four videos released by his captors.

But he is, “as far as I know, in good condition,” Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said yesterday.

A prisoner swap has been discussed secretly by the United States and the Taliban for two years and was raised again yesterday after the militant group opened a political office in Qatar to prepare peace talks to end the 12-year war.

The first step “has to be the release of prisoners,” Suhail said. “Then, step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward.”

The Obama administration greeted the overture cautiously.

“We have not made a decision to transfer any Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, though we anticipate, as I’ve said, that the Taliban will raise this issue,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

“We’ll talk with the Taliban . . . about the safe return of Sergeant Bergdahl,” she added. “He’s been gone far too long.” ”

The five senior commanders the Taliban is seeking in exchange for the unmarried Bergdahl are:

* Khairullah Khairkhwa, a former Taliban minister of the interior and military commander who had direct ties to bin Laden.

* Mohammad Fazl, a former Taliban chief of army staff and the deputy minister of defense.

* Abdul Haq Wasiq, former Taliban deputy minister of intelligence.

* Mullah Norullah Noori, a senior Taliban commander in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

* Mohammed Nabi, former chief of security for the Taliban in the city of Qalat.