Afghan officials visit Guantanamo in U.S. peace bid

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - An Afghan government delegation visited the U.S. Guantanamo Bay military prison this week to secure approval from five Taliban detainees who may soon be moved to Qatar, a sign that the Obama administration is inching closer to establishing peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan.

The delegation, which visited the top-security detention centre in Cuba on Monday, included Ibrahim Spinzada, a senior foreign policy aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, sources familiar with the subject said.

Government sources in Kabul said Spinzada and Shahida Abdali, a senior Afghan security official, visited the United States this week. The White House said the two officials were in Washington briefly but both the White House and the Pentagon declined comment on the Guantanamo visit.

Karzai's government has demanded the five former senior members of the Taliban government, held at Guantanamo Bay for a decade, give their consent before they are transferred to , the small Gulf state where they would under Qatar's custody.

Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/10/uk-usa-afghanistan-guantanamo-idUKBRE82901R20120310