Ghani rejected a Taliban demand for the release of 5,000 prisoners as a condition for talks “It’s going to be rocky and bumpy,” Pompeo told CBS’s “Face the Nation” program KABUL: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday rejected a clause in a peace deal signed between the Taliban and Washington by saying his government had never committed to the release of 5,000 Taliban inmates. Based on the historic deal, which followed a week-long reduction in violence in Afghanistan that mostly held, Kabul and the Taliban are required to work expeditiously toward a prisoner swap deal as part of a “confidence-building measure” following nearly 18 months of intensive negotiations between the US and the armed group. FASTFACT The US, which has up to 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will draw that number down to 8,600 within 14 months of the agreement. But Ghani and his government were not included in these talks because the Taliban views the Kabul administration as a “puppet of the West.” The president said at a news conference that freeing Taliban prisoners had nothing to do with Washington. “Freeing Taliban prisoners is not the authority of America, but is the authority of the Afghan government,” Ghani said at the presidential palace. “There has been no commitment for the release of 5,000 prisoners. We have frequently said this very clearly to (US special envoy) Mr.(Zalmay) Khalilzad and all other authorities.” The US, which has up to 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, will draw that number down to 8,600 within 14 months of the agreement. Taliban delegates said that their prisoners must be freed before March 10, when the first major intra-Afghan dialogue is scheduled to take place outside Afghanistan.