Qatar Says Mediated U.S.-Taliban Swap Deal Out of 'Humanitarian' Concern
Qatar on Sunday said it has mediated the swap of a captured U.S. soldier for five Taliban members out of “humanitarian” concern.
"When it comes to humanitarian matters, the Emir does not hesitate," Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said.
"This is what happened in the case of the U.S. sergeant and the five Taliban detainees," he told a press conference.
He declined to give details of the mediation which he said was based on a "main principle of Qatar's foreign policy, which is the humanitarian factor."
Meanwhile, an informed Qatari source said the five Taliban members will spend a year in the Gulf state.
"They will stay for one year in Qatar," the source told Agence France Presse, requesting not to be named.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said the Qatari government had given assurances of measures to protect U.S. national security in mediating the release of Sergeant Bergdahl in exchange for the Taliban prisoners, who arrived in Doha on Sunday afternoon.
A Taliban statement said earlier that the five men were transferred from Guantanamo Bay with the help of the government in Qatar where they have now joined their families, adding that the move had brought "great happiness and pleasure."
Source: Agence France Presse
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