The five Guantanamo Bay detainees swapped for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl are, from left, Mullah Norullah Nori, Mohammed Nabi Omari, Mohammed Fazl, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq. (U.S. Department of Defense)
The National: ‘Taliban five’ released from Guantanamo join group's Qatar political office
The men were released from the notorious US prison in exchange for Sgt Bowe Bergdahl
Five senior Taliban leaders freed from Guantanamo Bay in return for a captured American soldier have joined the militants' Qatar office responsible for peace talks.
The five men who spent more than a decade in the US military prison will now be in the Taliban's delegation during upcoming attempts to find a political settlement to the country's conflict.
America has significantly escalated its push to start tentative negotiations, with senior US officials already meeting Taliban envoys twice in recent months.
The militants' appointment of the so-called Taliban Five also came just days after the release from Pakistani jail of another senior Taliban figure, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was also linked to potential talks.
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Update: 5 freed from Gitmo in exchange for Bergdahl join insurgents in Qatar, Taliban says (Military Times/AP)
WNU Editor: The U.S. is hoping for progress .... but all I see is more bloodshed and more incidents like this .... Taliban Floggings Hint At New Crackdown On Smartphones (RFE).