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Taliban-held U.S. soldier released in exchange for Afghan detainees Taliban-held U.S. soldier released in exchange for Afghan detainees
(35 minutes later)
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the only U.S. service member known to be held hostage in Afghanistan, was handed over Saturday morning by members of the Taliban in exchange for five Afghan detainees held at the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, U.S. officials said. Taliban fighters released the sole remaining American military hostage Saturday morning to a team of U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan, who quickly hustled him onto a helicopter. Once airborne, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl scribbled the letters “SF?” on a paper plate, seeking confirmation that he was with Special Operations forces.
The deal was brokered by the government of Qatar, which has agreed to host the five Taliban inmates in the Gulf emirate for at least one year. The men were en route to Qatar aboard a U.S. military aircraft as of early Saturday afternoon, a defense official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. They were being accompanied by representatives of the Qatari government. “Yes!” one of the troops hollered back above the din of the aircraft’s blades, according to a defense official who described his first moments of freedom. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
After the soldier was aboard a helicopter, he grabbed a paper plate and wrote the letters “SF?” to inquire whether the troops he was with were Special Forces, a senior Defense Department official said. Bergdahl, 28, who had been held captive nearly five years, broke down in tears.
“Yes,” one of the members of the team responded. “We’ve been looking for you for a long time.” His release was secured after the Obama administration, working through Qatari government intermediaries, agreed to free five high-profile Afghan inmates held by the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The influential commanders, including the former head of the Taliban’s army, were loaded onto a U.S. military aircraft bound for Doha in Qatar after U.S. officials got confirmation that Bergdahl had been freed.
Bergdahl broke down in tears. President Obama hailed Bergdahl’s recovery as a triumph of years of high-wire diplomatic efforts that reached a breakthrough in the waning months of the U.S. combat mission there.
In an appearance Saturday evening in the Rose Garden with Bergdahl’s parents, President Obama said the United States had worked for “several years” to obtain Bergdahl’s release, and thanked Qatar for its assistance. “He wasn’t forgotten by his country,” Obama said Saturday evening in the Rose Garden, standing alongside Bergdahl’s parents, Robert and Jani. “The United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.”
“He wasn't forgotten by his country because the United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind,” Obama said. “Right now, our top priority is making sure Bowe gets the care and support he needs” His father, who has grown the type of scraggly beard favored by members of the Taliban, said a few words to his son in Pashto, the language spoken in southern Afghanistan, saying that he understood his son is having trouble speaking English.
Recovering Bergdahl had become an increasingly urgent priority for the U.S. military as the imminent end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan, scheduled for December, dimmed the prospects of his freedom. “I am your father, Bowe,” Robert Bergdahl said. “I look forward to continuing the recovery of our son which will be a considerable task for our family.”
While leaders across the political spectrum expressed relief at the news, prominent Republican lawmakers chided the White House for skirting a legal requirement to notify them about the planned release of Guantanamo inmates. Some criticized the president for breaking with longtime U.S. policy against negotiating with militant groups.
“This fundamental shift in U.S. policy signals to terrorists around the world a greater incentive to take US hostages,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
Peaceful exchange
Bergdahl’s release at 10:30 a.m. in Khost province, which borders Pakistan, capped a week of intense, secret negotiations conducted through the Qataris. A team of dozens of Special Operations forces took custody of Bergdahl from a group of 18 Taliban fighters. The rare encounter on the battlefield between warriors that have spent years killing one another lasted just a few minutes and was peaceful, U.S. officials said.
Bergdahl walked onto the aircraft, U.S. officials said, suggesting he is in relatively stable health. Officials said it was too early to know anything definitive about the mental state of a soldier who bewildered his comrades after he walked off base in volatile Paktika province on June 30, 2009.
Officials at the Pentagon, who had grown concerned that the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan at the end of the year would dim the prospect of getting Bergdahl back alive, rejoiced.
“It is our ethos that we never leave a fallen comrade,” Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement. “Today we have back in our ranks the only remaining captured soldier from our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Welcome home Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.”“It is our ethos that we never leave a fallen comrade,” Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a statement. “Today we have back in our ranks the only remaining captured soldier from our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Welcome home Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.”
Washington and Doha signed a memorandum of understanding recently spelling out the terms under which the Afghan inmates would be released. The men will remain in Doha for at least a year, but it was not clear what travel or movement restrictions they might face beyond that. There was no indication that the soldier would face any reprimand for the circumstances under which he was taken, which led some of his comrades to call him a deserter. While it is unclear whether he will remain on active duty, a senior U.S. military official said the Army plans to promote Bergdahl to staff sergeant next month.
“The United States has coordinated closely with Qatar to ensure that security measures are in place and the national security of the United States will not be compromised,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement. “Sgt. Bergdahl’s return is a powerful reminder of the enduring, sacred commitment our nation makes to all those who serve in uniform.” “I can’t imagine there would be repercussions,” said the official, who was among several who would speak about the case only on the condition of anonymity.
Hagel informed members of Congress on Saturday about the prisoner swap deal. The administration is required by law to notify Congress about its intention to release Guantanamo detainees in advance. Defense officials said they were working to get Bergdahl to the United States as soon as possible. After passing through Bagram air base in Afghanistan, Bergdahl was en route to the U.S military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, according to Pentagon officials traveling with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
They said his first U.S. stop would likely be the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where after a thorough medical screening he will likely be debriefed by intelligence officials.
Year-long stay in Qatar
The released inmates include Mullah Mohammad Fazl, a former Taliban deputy defense minister. U.S. officials said that under a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Doha, the men will be subject to a year-long travel ban in Qatar. They declined to offer more details about any restrictions the men would face but expressed confidence that their release would not put Americans in harm’s way.
“The United States has coordinated closely with Qatar to ensure that security measures are in place and the national security of the United States will not be compromised,” Hagel said in a statement from Singapore, where he was attending a security conference. “Sgt. Bergdahl’s return is a powerful reminder of the enduring, sacred commitment our nation makes to all those who serve in uniform.”
Hagel informed members of Congress on Saturday about the prisoner swap deal. The administration is required by law to notify Congress about its intention to release Guantanamo detainees 30 days in advance.
“Due to a near-term opportunity to save Sergeant Bergdahl’s life, we moved as quickly as possible,” a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to explain the timing of the congressional notification. “The administration determined that given these unique and exigent circumstances, such a transfer should go forward notwithstanding the notice requirement” in the law.“Due to a near-term opportunity to save Sergeant Bergdahl’s life, we moved as quickly as possible,” a senior administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to explain the timing of the congressional notification. “The administration determined that given these unique and exigent circumstances, such a transfer should go forward notwithstanding the notice requirement” in the law.
The prisoner swap deal, which the Obama administration has pursued for several years, began gaining traction last fall after members of the Taliban indicated they were amenable to negotiating on that narrow issue, but through intermediaries. Talks falter, then revive
Earlier this year, the administration sought to enhance the American offer of a prisoner exchange by proposing to release the five men simultaneously. Taliban representatives had objected to the previous proposed plan, under which the inmates would be turned over in stages in an effort to test whether the Taliban and the Qatari intermediaries could guarantee that the men would not return to militancy. The Obama administration’s began seriously exploring the possibility of negotiating Bergdahl’s release in late 2011, when secret talks between U.S. diplomats and members of the Taliban appeared to be gaining traction. The talks, part of a broader effort to explore a negotiated end of a conflict that had only become deadlier as the White House approved a surge of 30,000 troops in 2009, collapsed in March 2012 when the Taliban suspended them, arguing that the United States was not acting in good faith.
Among the released inmates is Mullah Mohammad Fazl, a former Taliban deputy defense minister who arrived in Guantanamo on Jan. 11, 2002, along with the first wave of inmates imprisoned there. The others are Mohammad Nabi Omari, Khirullah Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Norullah Noori and Abdul Haq Wasiq. Last summer, when the Taliban was allowed to open a political office in the Qatari capital, American officials grew hopeful that prisoner swap negotiations could resume. The effort foundered just hours after the office formally opened after the Afghan government protested that the Taliban had been given de-facto diplomatic status.
Bergdahl, who was believed to be in the custody of the Haqqani network, a hard-line faction of the Taliban, was handed over peacefully to a team of Special Operations troops in an unspecified location in Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. Unexpectedly, representatives of the Taliban conveyed to U.S. officials last fall that they were once again amenable to discussing the release of Bergdahl, but set as a condition that they would only deal with Washington through intermediaries, American officials said.
The soldier, who went missing after walking off his base in June 2009, appeared to be in relatively good health and was walking when U.S. troops swooped down in helicopters to meet his captors. U.S. officials received a video of Bergdahl last fall after they had demanded proof that he remained alive. Unlike past videos of the captive, the one released last year was delivered privately, rather than through the Taliban’s media operatives. It showed the soldier looking “very gaunt, haggard,” a U.S. military official who has seen clips said.
U.S. officials said they are hopeful this step could open the door for the resumption of peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, but they cautioned that the militant group has not indicated it is willing to engage in broader negotiations. In a departure of its former negotiating stance, the administration sought to enhance the American offer of a prisoner exchange by proposing to release the five men simultaneously. Taliban representatives had objected to the previous proposed plan, under which the inmates would be turned over in stages in an effort to test whether the Taliban and the Qatari intermediaries could guarantee that the men would not return to militancy.
In Bergdahl’s hometown of Hailey, Idaho, there was jubilation Saturday. Residents had been planning a June 28 concert to call attention to his plight. They were expecting up to 7,000 people to attend, and singer Carole King was going to perform for free. A statement issued Saturday by the Taliban said the men would be residing with their families in Qatar, a tiny, wealthy Gulf emirate.
U.S. officials said they had no indication that the Taliban was open to more substantive talks but expressed hope that the swap would build trust.
“We continue to hope there will be a decision by the Taliban to move forward to initiate a political dialogue with the Afghan government, and it is our hope that the events leading to Sergeant Bergdahl’s return could potentially open the door for broader discussions with the Taliban by building confidence that the two sides can negotiate honestly with each other,” a senior administration official said.
A celebration in Idaho
The Obama administration has sought to keep Bergdahl’s profile relatively low over the years, fearing that widespread publicity of his plight would boost his value in the eyes of the Taliban and strengthen the group’s negotiating hand. For a period, White House officials asked that several U.S. newspapers refrain from publishing his name in the context of peace talks.
As his hopes dimmed, Bergdahl’s father sought to personally secure his son’s release by learning Pashto and attempting to contact the Taliban online.
Bergdahl’s parents had traveled to Washington for a Memorial Day event and stayed in town for a few days to attend meetings with senior U.S. officials. They were in Washington when Obama called them Saturday morning to deliver the news, U.S. officials said.
“We were so joyful and relieved when President Obama called us today to give us the news that Bowe is finally coming home!” Bergdahl’s parents said in a statement. “We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son. Today, we are ecstatic!”
In Bergdahl’s home town of Hailey, Idaho, there was jubilation Saturday. Residents had been planning a June 28 concert to call attention to his plight. They were expecting up to 7,000 people to attend, and singer Carole King was going to perform for free.
The concert will go on, said organizer Stefanie O’Neill, but it is now going to be “the biggest welcome-home party the country has ever seen.”The concert will go on, said organizer Stefanie O’Neill, but it is now going to be “the biggest welcome-home party the country has ever seen.”
Karen DeYoung, traveling in Asia with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Anne Gearan and Julie Tate in Washington contributed to this report. Kim Harrison, who said she was listed as Bergdahl’s godmother in his military records, said, “I’m excited, I’m kind of numb, and I hope that they take it easy on him when he gets back.”
She said she knows Bergdahl as the precocious teenager who took ballet with her daughter and came to spend hours at the Harrison house in Ketchum, Idaho, reading poetry and studying philosophy. She described Bergdahl as a sensitive young man who “questioned everything” and who went to Afghanistan because he wanted to help people.
“Now the only thing I can think of worth talking about is protecting him from people criticizing him and trying to find a negative source of why he left in first place,” she said.
Karen DeYoung, traveling in Asia with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and Anne Gearan, Julie Tate and Stephanie McCrummen in Washington contributed to this report.