Washington,
Feb 9. Pakistan released Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul
Ghani Baradar at US’ request to help expedite the Afghan peace
talks, Washington’s special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay
Khalilzad said.

Khalilzad,
who returned to the US from almost a month-long peace mission to South Asia and
the Middle East, said on Friday that he had discussed conditions for the
withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan with the Taliban, but there had
been no agreement on this issue yet, Dawn news reported.

Speaking at
the US Institute of Peace here, Khalilzad acknowledged that the US and the Taliban
had reached a framework agreement in Doha last month, but more talks were
needed for reaching a conclusion.

Responding to a question about Pakis­tan’s role in facilitating the US-Taliban talks, he said that Islamabad had played a constructive role and released Mullah Baradar “at my request”.

Khalilzad
said that he requested Baradar’s release because he believed the senior Taliban
leader could also play a constructive role in the Afghan peace initiative.

Appreciating
the role Islamabad was playing in promoting peace talks, Khalilzad said:
“Pakistan is an important country and we want better relations with
Pakistan.”

Mullah
Baradar was
released earlier

Pakistan has
also said that last month’s talks between the United States and the Taliban
were a “major diplomatic victory” for all sides.

Mullah Baradar was released in Pakistan in October.

Before his
arrest in 2010, he was believed to be the military chief of the terror group,
led by Mullah Omar who had died in 2013, although the news was made public only
two years later.

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