Summary Sartaj Aziz says decision has been taken in principle and release will take place soon.
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will release former Afghan Taliban second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, as soon as this month to help advance peace efforts in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan s foreign policy chief said on Tuesday.
"In principle, we have agreed to release him. The timing is being discussed. It should be very soon. I think within this month," Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif s adviser on foreign affairs, told Reuters.
Aziz added Baradar would not be handed over to Afghanistan directly as some in Kabul had hoped, and would be instead released straight into Pakistan.
Pakistan earlier released seven Afghan Taliban last month to facilitate the talks between Afghan government and Taliban.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Pakistan and held meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
US is trying to broker peace talks between Afghan govt and the Taliban.
Pakistan government has also decided to hold talks with militants after the APC held in Islamabad.
The Afghan government has long demanded that Islamabad free Baradar, whose arrest in January 2010 saw Pakistan accused of sabotaging initiatives to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.
His release would bring to 34 the number of Taliban detainees that Pakistan has released since last year, in what Afghan officials hope will encourage peace talks with the insurgents.
There has been little evidence, however, that the releases have had a positive effect on stalled talks, and Baradar s influence has been debated after years away from the battlefield.
The announcement came two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Pakistan for talks with new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at which Baradar s release was again requested.
