As the release of 400 high-value Taliban prisoners begins, President Ashraf Ghani in a conversation with the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday said that those who are released might pose a danger to Afghanistan, the United States and the world, but that it was necessary for peace.

The conversation was hosted by James B. Cunningham, a senior fellow of the Atlantic Council and former US ambassador to Afghanistan.  

Ghani expressed appreciation for the Loya Jirga for approving the release of the 400 Taliban prisoners and said the Jirga “resolved what legally could not be resolved.”

However, Ghani also mentioned his concerns.

“The list is likely to pose a danger both to us and to you and to the world because it is the drug dealers and hardened criminals--that has been shared with all our allies and friends--but again this is a step that we have considered necessary,” Ghani said.

“Until now, there has been a lot of pressure, requests from the Afghan government,” Ghani said. “Now the balance shifts because we have taken all the risks because we are a state. We were not party to an agreement to release 5,000 Taliban but out of the imperative of wanting peace in the conviction, we did it.”

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/prisoner-release-%E2%80%98dangerous%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98necessary%E2%80%99-ghani