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Taliban
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Afghan Taliban offer to free US soldier held captive for four years

Taliban want to exchange US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl for five operatives held in Guantanamo Bay

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Afghan Taliban offer to free US soldier held captive for four years

The Afghan Taliban say they are ready to hand over a US soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

A Taliban spokesman, Shaheen Suhail, says US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl “is as far as I know in good condition.”

Suhail spoke in an exclusive telephone interview with The Associated Press from the newly opened Taliban offices in Doha, Qatar.

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Bergdahl disappeared in eastern Afghanistan on June 30, 2009.

Shaheen says “first has to be the release of detainees,” and after that, the Taliban “want to build bridges of confidence.”

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He offered no details on Bergdahl’s current whereabouts.

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