Afghan President: 400 Taliban Prisoners to Remain in Custody

In this March, 1, 2020, file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dashed hopes Friday, July 31, 2020 of an early start to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, announcing the final 400 Taliban prisoners whose release is a prerequisite to start talks, will remain jailed. The announcement frustrates U.S. efforts to find an end to Afghanistan's years of relentless war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
In this March, 1, 2020, file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dashed hopes Friday, July 31, 2020 of an early start to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, announcing the final 400 Taliban prisoners whose release is a prerequisite to start talks, will remain jailed. The announcement frustrates U.S. efforts to find an end to Afghanistan's years of relentless war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
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Afghan President: 400 Taliban Prisoners to Remain in Custody

In this March, 1, 2020, file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dashed hopes Friday, July 31, 2020 of an early start to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, announcing the final 400 Taliban prisoners whose release is a prerequisite to start talks, will remain jailed. The announcement frustrates U.S. efforts to find an end to Afghanistan's years of relentless war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
In this March, 1, 2020, file photo, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a news conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dashed hopes Friday, July 31, 2020 of an early start to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, announcing the final 400 Taliban prisoners whose release is a prerequisite to start talks, will remain jailed. The announcement frustrates U.S. efforts to find an end to Afghanistan's years of relentless war. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani dashed hopes Friday for a start to negotiations with Taliban insurgents, announcing the final 400 Taliban prisoners whose release is a prerequisite to start talks, will remain jailed. The announcement frustrates US efforts to find an end to Afghanistan´s years of relentless war.

Addressing the nation on the Muslim holy day of Eid al Adha, Ghani said the 400 Taliban are convicted of crimes he has no authority to forgive. Instead, he will call a loya jirga - or traditional grand council of elders - to decide whether they should go free. He said the council would meet "shortly."

Ghani's announcement was certain to delay the start of negotiations between the warring sides and frustrate Washington's efforts to bring an early end to hostilities, even as they scale down their presence in Afghanistan.

It also comes at the start of a three-day ceasefire announced by the Taliban for the Eid holidays.

The prisoner releases were part of a deal the United States signed in February with the Taliban aimed at ending Afghanistan's endless wars and sending US troops home after nearly 20 years in Afghanistan, ending America's longest war.

That deal, touted at the time as Afghanistan's best chance at peace in four decades, called for the Afghan government to free 5,000 Taliban held in jails across the country and the Taliban to free 1,000 government and military personnel. The releases were to be a sign of good will and a prerequisite to the start of negotiations between the warring sides.

On Thursday, the Taliban concluded the release of the 1,000 they were holding, according to Taliban's political spokesman Suhail Shaheen. He also said the insurgent group was ready to hold talks with Kabul's political leadership within a week if the remaining Taliban still in jails in Afghanistan were freed.

But Shaheen told The Associated Press the Taliban would not accept substitutes to the 5,000 Taliban on the list agreed upon during the one-and-a-half years of negotiations with Washington.

Ghani in his speech said his government would free 500 Taliban who are not on the list saying it was a gesture of good will.

In response to Ghani's announcement, Shaheen called his administration "an obstacle to peace."

Shaheen told The Associated Press the Taliban freed 1,005 government personnel, militia members, military personnel and police. The last of the prisoners was freed Thursday.

"We freed all of them as a good will gesture so that they may pass their Eid days with their families and also we announced the cease-fire in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations," Shaheen said. "But on the other hand the head of the Kabul administration, instead of removing hurdles in the way of peace and intra-Afghan negotiations, is creating ... hurdles and obstacles."

The UN had expressed hopes for a start to negotiations within weeks, suggesting they may have begun in July, and called on both sides not to squander an opportunity at peace.

The US Embassy in Kabul on Thursday issued a statement at the end of Khalilzad's round of meetings with Afghan leaders in the capital repeating a call for an end to fighting and bloodshed and urged both sides to "seize this historic opportunity for peace.

A meeting of the loya jirga would require weeks to collect elders from throughout the country and it wasn't clear how they would be chosen or whether Ghani's political opponent and the current head of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdulllah Abdullah supported the move.

Abdullah was tasked with overseeing the peace talks with the Taliban as part of a power sharing deal with Ghani earlier this year following disputed presidential election results.

There was no immediate comment from Abdullah to Ghani's refusal to release the remaining Taliban prisoners.



Turkish Court Rejects Appeal Seeking Release of Key Erdogan Rival from Jail

Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest outside his prison during his first hearing over accusations leveled against him, as Turkish gendarmerie banned them to approach to the Marmara Prison, formerly Silivri Prison, and Courthouse Complex in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest outside his prison during his first hearing over accusations leveled against him, as Turkish gendarmerie banned them to approach to the Marmara Prison, formerly Silivri Prison, and Courthouse Complex in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Turkish Court Rejects Appeal Seeking Release of Key Erdogan Rival from Jail

Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest outside his prison during his first hearing over accusations leveled against him, as Turkish gendarmerie banned them to approach to the Marmara Prison, formerly Silivri Prison, and Courthouse Complex in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Supporters of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and main rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, protest outside his prison during his first hearing over accusations leveled against him, as Turkish gendarmerie banned them to approach to the Marmara Prison, formerly Silivri Prison, and Courthouse Complex in Istanbul, Türkiye, April 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Judicial officials on Monday rejected an appeal seeking the release of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu from jail pending the outcome of his corruption trial, the country's state-run news agency reported.

Imamoglu, a prominent opposition figure and a key challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s more than two-decade rule, was detained on March 19 and formally jailed on corruption charges four days later.

His arrest is widely perceived to be politically motivated, aiming to sideline a major rival ahead of presidential elections, which currently are scheduled for 2028 but could take place earlier.

The mayor’s arrest and subsequent removal from office has triggered the largest wave of anti-government protests in Türkiye in over a decade. The government insists that the judiciary operates independently and without political interference.

On Monday, the Istanbul Criminal Court of First Instance ruled to reject the appeals made by Imamoglu’s lawyers, deciding that his detention would continue, the Anadolu Agency reported.

Lawyers representing the mayor had argued that the investigation into Imamoglu was allegedly conducted in violation of legal standards. They are expected to renew the appeals request.

The court also rejected appeals requests for Murat Ongun — the chairman of a media company affiliated with the Istanbul municipality and close Imamoglu aide — and other suspects who were arrested on corruption charges alongside the mayor, the agency said.

A lawyer representing Imamoglu could not confirm the report, saying the decision had not been formally communicated to him.