The US and Qatar are currently in discussions over the fate of five Taliban figures a year after their release in a high-profile prisoner swap, CIA director John Brennan said Sunday, according to AFP.
A year-long travel ban on the five released prisoners is due to expire, raising questions amongst officials on what will happen next.
“I want to make sure that they’re not going to be allowed to return to the fight,” CIA chief Brennan said Sunday on the CBS talk show “Face the Nation.”
The five Taliban figures were released in exchange for American Sergeant Bowie Bergdahl on May 31, 2014, after which they were transferred from US detention camp Guantanamo Bay to Qatar.
Current discussions between the US and Qatar are to examine whether the five released prisoners will be allowed to return to Afghanistan.
Officials are “looking [at] what are the arrangements that can be put in place, what is going to be the disposition of these individuals, whether they will be sent back to Afghanistan or stay in Doha,” said retired US General Stanley McChrystal on CNN show “State of the Union.”
Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in June 2009 after going missing from his unit in Afghanistan. He was later charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. The swap was harshly criticized as a stark departure from the US’s longstanding policy of not negotiating with hostage-takers.
