Karzai fumes over deal
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is angry at being kept in the dark over a deal to free five Taliban leaders in exchange for captured US soldier Bowe Bergdahl, a senior source said on Monday.
Karzai also accuses Washington of failing to back a peace plan for the war-torn country, said the anonymous source at Karzai's palace.
The US government has said Karzai was excluded from the prisoner swap deal to avoid leaks.
"The president is now even more distrustful of US intentions in the country," said the source. "He is asking: How come the prisoner exchange worked out so well, when the Afghan peace process failed to make any significant progress?"
Karzai has backed peace talks with the Taliban but they have so far come to little, and the Taliban have moved swiftly to dash hopes that the prisoner swap would rekindle negotiations.
"It won't help the peace process in any way, because we don't believe in the peace process," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Sunday.
The palace official also said Karzai was worried about further deals being cut without his knowledge.
"It indicates that other deals could be negotiated behind the president's back," he said.
Karzai's press office said that the US deal to transfer the Taliban prisoners to Qatar breaks international law.
"No government can transfer citizens of a country to a third country as prisoners," said the statement, issued on behalf of the Foreign Ministry.
Reuters
(China Daily 06/03/2014 page12)
