Afghan govt delays Taliban prisoner release plan

The Afghan government has postponed its plan to release Taliban prisoners, a senior official said Saturday, throwing a precarious peace process between the insurgents and Kabul into deeper crisis. President Ashraf Ghani earlier this week announced that the authorities would free 1,500 insurgents as a "gesture of goodwill" before negotiations begin, in an attempt to resolve one of the long-running disputes that had roiled talks. The insurgents had earlier rejected the offer and demanded that up to 5,000 captives are released ahead of talks. On Saturday Javid Faisal, spokesman for the National Security Council, told AFP that "the prisoners' release has been delayed" to allow more time to review their identities.