Afghan Taliban say US must rebuild trust

Afghanistan's Taliban will eventually resume talks with the United States, a former commander said, but it will depend on how Washington repairs trust damaged by a string of incidents, notably the killing of 16 Afghans blamed on a US soldier.

The Taliban have suspended the nascent dialogue, blaming the United States for failing to deliver on a promise to transfer five of its leaders held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay.

The Islamist group later said actions such as the mass killing in southern Kandahar province two weeks ago had poisoned the atmosphere.

Syed Mohammed Akbar Agha, a senior commander and cousin of the Taliban's main negotiator, said the tentative secret discussions with the Americans to lay the ground for formal peace negotiations had only been suspended, not ended.

The face-to-face discussions have been shrouded in secrecy ever since they began in 2010 in Germany and in Arab countries. They are meant to negotiate a political settlement for a costly and unpopular war that has dragged into its eleventh year.

The two sides appeared to have made progress late last year with an agreement on opening a Taliban political office in the Gulf state of Qatar, along with the proposed transfer from Guantanamo of the five prisoners to Qatari custody.

"The office had been agreed and they were very close to a deal on the release of prisoners one by one. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, the atmosphere of mistrust has developed again," said Agha, whose cousin Tayeb Agha has led the talks.

"The Americans didn't stick to their promise about releasing prisoners. They were delaying, sometimes it was next day, then next week. They kept changing their position," he said.

The proposed transfer has also raised hackles in the US Congress, where politicians of both parties warn transferring the Taliban prisoners might somehow strengthen the insurgency.

The Pentagon is leading negotiations with the Qatari government on the conditions of that transfer, but no agreement has been reached on safeguards that would satisfy US worries about the senior Taliban slipping away.

Questions:

1. How many Afghans were killed by a US soldier in the latest incident?

2. What year did the secret talks begin in Germany?

3. How many prisoners will be transferred from Guantanamo to Qatar?

Answers:

1. 16.

2. 2010.

3. 5.