Afghanistan presidential campaign stays away from Bergdahl release

http://www.latimes.com/world/afghanistan-pakistan/la-fg-afghanistan-election-taliban-bergdahl-20140611-story.html



Supporters of Afghanistan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah cheer during a campaign rally in Kabul.

Afghanistan presidential campaign stays away from Bergdahl release
Shashank Bengali, Hashmat Baktash
June 11, 2014

A heated presidential race in Afghanistan leading to Saturday's runoff election scarcely touched the news that has captivated many Americans for days: the Taliban’s release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

As they crisscrossed the country, neither of the veteran politicians vying to succeed President Hamid Karzai said much publicly about the controversial deal that freed Bergdahl on May 31 in exchange for five Afghans held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Nor did former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani address the still distant prospects for an agreement that could end hostilities with the Taliban.

Though each candidate says that reaching a peace deal would be a priority for his government, Abdullah and Ghani have focused their campaigns on economic development, responsible governance and, less loftily, striking pacts with former rivals and ethnic power brokers.

“In a strange way, the Taliban are not a factor in the elections,” said Michael Semple, a former European Union senior official in Afghanistan. “The contest between Abdullah and Ghani is over other things.”