Khalilzad given list of Taliban inmates, but deal has not been finalized KABUL: US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has held talks with Afghan leaders in order to secure the release of Taliban prisoners in return for the freedom of two Western teachers held by the group, an official source said on Saturday. The move is part of confidence-building measures and efforts to resume stalled peace talks with the insurgents. Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban figure who now lives in Kabul, told Arab News that the Taliban had given Khalilzad a list of 70 to 80 Taliban prisoners, but the exchange process had not been finalized. “Khalilzad has given the Taliban list to the government, but it will take time. The prisoner swap will happen at some stage,” he said, adding: “The exchange is entirely aimed at confidence-building and for resuming the talks.” Last month, Khalilzad held his first direct meeting with the Taliban in Pakistan to find ways to restart discussions with the group, after US President Donald Trump called off the talks in September. This was after nearly a year of intensive talks in Qatar between the two sides. Last week, after several meetings with regional leaders and NATO ambassadors in Europe, where he pressed the need to find a political settlement to the Afghan war, Khalilzad traveled to Kabul and held talks with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. The Afghan-born diplomat then traveled to Pakistan, where he met with Prime Minister Imran Khan before returning to Kabul where he has stayed, hoping to arrange the prisoner exchange deal, an official source, requesting anonymity, said on Saturday. Although Ghani’s National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib confirmed that initial discussions with the president revolved around the prisoners exchange, the government has stayed silent about Khalilzad’s latest trip. The two professors, Kevin King, an American, and Timothy Weeks, an Australian, were abducted in Kabul in 2016 while employed at the American University in Kabul in broad daylight by the Haqqani network, the main military wing of the Taliban which has been accused of conducting major attacks in urban areas. Meanwhile, Arab News understands that the Taliban have demanded freedom for dozens of inmates held by Kabul, including Anas Haqqani, son of the founder of the network. “He (Khalilzad) has been in Kabul for days, trying to get the prisoner exchange done. He has met with President Ghani on this. I do not know of any progress or opposition about it so far,” the source said. There was no word from Khalilzad or the US Embassy on the issue. Officials in Ghani’s office refused to comment on Khalilzad’s latest trip and his push for the exchange of prisoners. But Abdullah said the exchange was necessary. “If we have prisoners held by the other side, and their prisoners are here, work should be done for their release and this should, of course, help us in achieving peace in the country,” Abdullah said on Friday. Afghan lawmaker Mir Dad Nijrabi added that Khalilzad had asked Kabul for the freedom of Taliban prisoners, including Anas Haqqani, for the release of two American University professors.