KABUL: Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar on Sunday hailed the release of five senior militants in exchange for US soldier Bowe Bergdahl as a “big victory”.

On his part, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed the hope that release of Sergeant Bergdahl would lead to direct US talks with the Afghan Taliban.

In a rare statement, Mullah Omar said: “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation, all the mujahideen and to the families and relatives of the prisoners for this big victory regarding the release of five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo prison.

“I thank the government of Qatar, especially its emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad (Al Thani), who made sincere efforts for release of these leaders and for their mediation and for hosting them.”

US expresses hope the move will lead to direct talks

In an interview from Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’, US Defence Secretary Hagel said: “It could, it might and we hope it will present an opening.”

He noted that the United States had engaged in talks with the Taliban before, until they were broken off in 2012, and that it strongly supported an Afghan-led effort to reach a peace agreement with the Taliban.

“So maybe this will be a new opening that can produce an agreement,” he said.

Sergeant Bergdahl, 28, was released on Saturday near the Afghan-Pakistan border after nearly five years in Taliban captivity in a surprise development that came as the United States days is winding down its 13-year intervention in Afghanistan.

Hagel credited Qatar and its emir with Sergeant Bergdahl’s release in a trade for five militants held at the prison in Guantanamo Bay. But he denied that the United States had negotiated with terrorists, as Republican critics are charging, and defended the trade as an effort to save the soldier’s life.

“This is a guy who probably went through hell for the last five years,” he said. “And let’s focus on getting him well and getting him back with his family.”

Meanwhile, a source said the five militants transferred on Sunday to Qatar would spend a year in the Gulf state. “They will stay for one year in Qatar,” the source said.

Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah said that Doha mediated the swap out of humanitarian concerns. “When it comes to humanitarian matters, the emir does not hesitate,” he said.

“This is what happened in the case of the US sergeant and the five Taliban detainees,” he told a press conference.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2014