Qatar extends travel ban ‘Taliban five’

The ban on the five former Guantanamo inmates, released in exchange for US Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, would remain in place until diplomatic talks for a longer-term solution are completed.

Taliban prisoners released in exchange for US Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl: (From top left) Khairullah Khairkhwa, Mullah Norullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq; (Bottom left) Mohammed Nabi, Mohammad Fazl. Photos cShow more

WASHINGTON // Qatar has agreed to temporarily extend travel bans on five senior Taliban leaders released last year from the prison at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for a captured American soldier.

A senior US official said the ban would remain in place until diplomatic talks for a longer-term solution are completed. The restrictions had been due to expire on Monday under a May 2014 exchange for Sgt Bowe Bergdahl. US officials said on Friday the Obama administration was closing in on an agreement with Qatar to extend the restrictions for six months that could be announced this weekend.

The official said the US remains in “close contact” with Qatari authorities “to make sure these individuals do not pose a threat to the United States.” As a result of the talks to date, Qatar “has agreed to maintain the current restrictive conditions on these individuals as we continue these discussions,” the official said late on Sunday.

The former detainees are all currently in Qatar and remain subject to the travel ban and extensive monitoring.

Under the terms of the exchange, the five detainees were sent to Qatar, where government officials agreed to monitor their activities and prevent them from travelling out of the country for one year. In return, Sgt Bergdahl, who had been held by the Taliban for nearly five years after walking away from his Army post in Afghanistan, was released to the US military. He recently was charged with desertion.

At least one of the five allegedly contacted militants during the past year while in Qatar. No details have been disclosed about that contact, but the White House confirmed that one of the Taliban leaders was put under enhanced surveillance.

One or more of the detainees met with some members of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani militant group in Qatar earlier in the year, according to Republican senator Lindsey Graham. That was an indication that the group was reaching out to communicate with the so-called Taliban Five, said Mr Graham, who predicted all five will rejoin the militants.

Four of the five former detainees remain on the United Nations’ blacklist, which freezes their assets and has them under a separate travel ban. But the UN itself has acknowledged that its travel ban has been violated. In a report late last year, the UN sanctions committee stated, “Regrettably, the monitoring team continues to receive a steady – albeit officially unconfirmed – flow of media reports indicating that some listed individuals have become increasingly adept at circumventing the sanctions measures, the travel ban in particular.”

*Associated Press