Clinton: No decision on release of Taliban prisoners

WASHINGTON - US State Secretary Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that Washington has not made any decisions about releasing the Taliban prisoners from the US military detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

At a press conference with visiting Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, she also announced that US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman will visit Afghanistan and Qatar next week to continue consultations on the Afghan reconciliation process.

Regarding the peace talks with Taliban, Clinton said the United States was prepared to support an Afghan-led process of reconciliation and would participate in that "if we believe it holds promise for an end to the conflict."

"I think the positive statements last week from both President Karzai and the Taliban demonstrate that there is support for such discussions, for the political office to open in Qatar," she said.

But Clinton said "nothing has been concluded" on the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, noting "we are still in the preliminary stages of testing whether this can be successful."

She reiterated the three conditions for Taliban to join the Afghan political process, namely renouncing violence, breaking with al-Qaida, and supporting the laws and constitution of Afghanistan.