AP EXCLUSIVE: Taliban offer to free US soldier
Source: AP-Excite
By KATHY GANNON
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The Afghan Taliban are ready to free a U.S. army soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay as a conciliatory gesture, a senior spokesman for the group said Thursday.
The offer follows this week's official opening of a Taliban political office in Doha, the capital of the Gulf state of Qatar.
The only known American soldier held captive from the Afghan war is U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. He disappeared from his base in southeastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009, and is believed held in Pakistan.
In an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from his Doha office, Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail said on Thursday that Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition. "
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