US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday that Pakistan had released Taliban leader Mullah Baradar at his request to help expedite the Afghan peace talks.
Khalilzad, who returned this week from almost a month-long peace mission to South Asia and the Middle East, said that he had discussed conditions for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan with the Taliban, but there had been no agreement on this issue yet.
Speaking at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, America’s chief negotiator for Afghanistan 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”.
