Taleban claim freed US soldier ‘treated well’

Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, right, with a Taleban fighter before his release. Picture: AP

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taleban in eastern Afghanistan, said in a telephone interview that Sgt Bergdahl was held under “good conditions,” and was given fresh fruit and any other foods he requested.

“You can ask him in America about his life (in captivity). He will not complain,” Mr Mujahid said.

The question of Sgt Bergdahl’s well-being is part of a fierce debate in Washington over whether the US should have negotiated for his release in exchange for five Taliban detainees who had been held at Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Mujahid’s statements could not be verified immediately.

Sgt Bergdahl, of Hailey, Idaho, was captured after he walked away from his base in June 2009 and US officials believed he was mainly held by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group affiliated with the Taleban, in Pakistan.

He was handed over to the US in a remote area of Khost province, near the Pakistani border.

Mr Mujahid said Sgt Bergdahl was held in different locations inside Afghanistan, without providing further details. He said the soldier enjoyed playing soccer as well as reading, including English-language books about Islam.

Since Sgt Bergdahl’s release senior officials, including US president Barack Obama, have said the prisoner swap that involved the release of five high-profile Taleban detainees from Guantanamo Bay, and which has caused a furore in the United States, was hastened by concerns the Army sergeant’s physical health was deteriorating.

But the Obama administration later told senators it did not notify Congress about the pending swap because of intelligence the Taliban might kill Sgt Bergdahl if the deal was made public, congressional and administration officials said.

Mr Mujahid said he could not immediately comment on whether the Taliban had threatened to kill Sgt Bergdahl, who is currently recovering at a military hospital in Germany.

Several administration and congressional officials said a December video shown to senators in a briefing portrayed Sgt Bergdahl’s health as in decline but not so desperately that he required an emergency rescue.

An assessment by US intelligence agencies about the video in January came to the same conclusion, according to two congressional officials.

Taliban fighters freed Sgt Bergdahl on Saturday and turned him over to a US special operations team in eastern Afghanistan.

Under the deal, five Taleban militants were released from Guantanamo and flown to Qatar, where they are to remain for a year under conditions that have not been publicly disclosed.

A federal law requires the US Congress to be told 30 days before a prisoner is released from Guantanamo, but Obama administration officials said it did not apply in what they deemed an emergency situation.

www.scotsman.com/news/world/taleban-victorious-at-release-of-detainees-1-3429669

www.scotsman.com/news/world/last-captive-us-soldier-in-afghanistan-is-released-1-3429162