Afghanistan's government late on Thursday announced a 21-member team to negotiate with the Taliban in a tentative sign of progress for the United States-brokered peace deal.
The list announced by the country's State Ministry of Peace would be led by Masoom Stanekzai, a former National Directorate of Security chief, and included politicians, former officials and representatives of civil society. Five members of the team are women.
It was not immediately clear whether President Ashraf Ghani's political rival Abdullah Abdullah would endorse the team selected, which diplomats have said would be vital given his camp's strong influence in much of the country's North and West.
Following the selection of the government's negotiators, the next step should be to convene talks with the Taliban as part of a process aimed at ending America's longest war and bringing peace to Afghanistan.
Abdullah's spokesman did not immediately reply to request for comment.
The United States signed a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban in February, but progress on moving to negotiations between the militant group and the Afghan government has been delayed, in part by the political feud between Ghani and Abdullah with both men claiming to be Afghanistan's rightful leader following September's election.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo failed to mediate between the two men to create an "inclusive" government during a day-long visit to Kabul on Monday, and announced a one-billion-U.S.-dollar cut in U.S. aid to Afghanistan, which he said could be reversed.
Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani (L) and Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah (R) participate in a family photo at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland July 8, 2016. /Reuters
The negotiating team was selected a day after the Taliban and the Afghan government agreed to a partial prisoner exchange at the end of the month, and a government announcement about its plan to meet with Taliban representatives in Afghanistan in the coming days for "further discussions."
The Taliban had demanded the unconditional release of 5,000 prisoners before starting talks with the government. Ghani countered with an offer to free 1,500 prisoners, and has since said he would release 100 at the end of March.
The arrangement was struck in talks between Taliban and government officials held over Skype because of travel restrictions due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Prisoners released amid coronavirus fears
In a bit to contain the spread of coronavirus, the Afghan government signed a decree ordering the release of about 10,000 prisoners on Thursday. Most of those slated to walk out of prison will be women, juveniles, people with other illnesses and those over the age of 55.
Members of civil society activists in protective suits prepare themselves, during a campaign awareness of the coronavirus in Kabul, Afghanistan March 18, 2020. /Reuters
Authorities said the discharge will take place over the coming 10 days.
Afghanistan has so far reported 91 cases of coronavirus and three deaths but throngs of people recently returning from Iran, one of the hardest-hit country in the world, may bring a significant rise in the number of total infections in the war-torn country.
"This is a responsible decision to safeguard the health of the people," Attorney General Farid Hamidi said in a news conference.
He also said the decree signed by President Ashraf Ghani is not meant for "those who have committed crimes against national and international security."
There exists no correlation between the planned prisoner release and the prisoner exchange over which the Taliban and the Afghan government are negotiating.
(With input from Reuters)
(Cover image: Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani attends a meeting with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during the annual Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany February 16, 2019. /Reuters)