US army releases Afghan detainees

By Andrew North
BBC News, Khost

The US is holding about 500 people at its bases in Afghanistan

The US military in Afghanistan has begun to release a few detainees as part of efforts to persuade the Taleban to end their insurgency.

It has also been offering an amnesty to militants who pledge support for the government of Hamid Karzai.

The detainees are suspects held after the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

The US is holding more than 500 suspected Taleban insurgents at its two main bases in Afghanistan, Bagram and Kandahar.

The amnesty to militants initiative is still in its early stages, but US commanders hope it could eventually tempt many Taliban to give up fighting.

The idea is simple.

Anyone from the Taliban - except their most senior leaders - can now ask for a US amnesty.

One of the areas where the scheme is in operation is Khost province in eastern Afghanistan.

Little response

Colonel Gary Cheek, the commander for eastern Afghanistan, explains what happens if someone asks for amnesty.

"We will bring him in and say: 'Ok you want go back and join your family'.

"And we will take some data down on him and make a formal declaration. He can keep that and then we'll keep it as well and we'll send him on his way. If he's good to his word, he'll be alright."

But Colonel Creek has gone further.

On the recommendation of local Afghan officials, he has released several people from US detention, including militants implicated in bomb attacks.

Perhaps more surprising, two of these militants have become local police chiefs.

However, despite such a dramatic reversal in strategy, the US military has little to show for it so far.

Only five people have signed up to the scheme in the Khost area, which has long been a stronghold of Taliban support.

But the governor of Khost says he has attracted many more to his own reconciliation initiative.

Three of these former Taleban said most of their compatriots want to leave the Pakistani tribal areas where they're currently sheltering.

Many more will do so, both US commanders and Afghan officials predict, if and when President Karzai sets out an official nationwide reconciliation policy - making clear who will be included and who will not.

But it is a highly sensitive issue for him, with the Taleban still deeply reviled by some of Afghanistan's ethnic groups.

In Khost though, many believe a full reconciliation drive could eventually bring the Taleban insurgency to an end.