Mullah Baradar's release will help reconciliation process: Fazal
Says the step would also benefit govt-Taliban talks in Pakistan.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Jamait Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman welcomed the release of Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, saying that it would help Afghan reconciliation process.
According to a statement, JUI-F chief said that Baradar’s release would help take Doha talks forward. He said that durable peace in Pakistan was liked with restoration of peace in neighboring countries.
Pakistan on Saturday released its most senior Afghan Taliban detainee Abdul Ghani Baradar, a senior official told AFP, in a move welcomed by Kabul who hope it will encourage peace talks with the insurgents.
Baradar, a one-time military chief often described as the militants former second-in-command, was the most high profile detained Taliban commander in Pakistan.
"Yes Baradar has been released," Omar Hamid, a spokesman for Pakistan s interior ministry told AFP, without elaborating on the circumstances of the release.
Afghanistan s High Peace Council (HPC) welcomed the release and thanked Pakistan s government.
"We welcome his release. And we thank the government of Pakistan that showed goodwill and answered positively to the request of Afghanistan government," Mohammad Esmail Qasimyar, senior member of HPC, told AFP.
"Baradar is someone who has always been eager to join peace negotiations, and we hope he joins peace talks soon. We are optimistic about it, he is still an influential figure, and the Taliban still respect him," Qasimyar said.
Pakistan s foreign ministry on Friday said that Baradar s release would facilitate Afghanistan s reconciliation process with the Taliban as a NATO combat mission there winds down.
