A source told TOLOnews that an Afghan government team that was sent to Doha before the signing of Saturday’s peace deal has established contact with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar.

Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi on Friday, Feb. 28, announced that a delegation had been sent to Doha a day before Saturday’s signing of the US-Taliban agreement. Such a meeting would be the first between the Taliban and the Afghan government and would be in advance of the intra-Aghan talks.

Sediqqi said that the prisoner release is not a pre-condition for beginning the intra-Afghan negotiations, but it will be part of it.

A member of the High Peace Council said that the prisoner release would be the main topic of a meeting between a government delegation and the Taliban and that some flexibility can be expected in the president’s stance on this matter.

In this episode host Wahid Ahmadi discusses the topic with the following guests:

Shah Hussain Murtazawi, President Adviser

Mujibul Rahman Rahimi, CEO office spokesman