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Pakistan to release top Afghan Taliban leader

21 September 2013 01:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Pakistan says it will set free top Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Saturday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Baradar, number two in the Taliban hierarchy, was arrested in the Pakistani port city of Karachi in February 2010.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai had demanded Baradar's release during his visit to Pakistan late last month.

"In order to further facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process, the detained Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, would be released tomorrow, 21 September 2013," the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Pakistan had earlier announced that Mullah Baradar will not be handed over to Afghan government and he will be free to go anywhere.

Abdul Ghani Baradar is one of the founding members of the Taliban and held several top military positions until his arrest.

He had served as deputy defense minister, corps commander Kabul and chief of military unit in Kandahar, as well as head of five western provinces.

Afghan government considers Baradar as key to the peace process. However, Taliban leaders are hopeful that he will remain loyal to the Taliban movement.

Pakistan has so far freed 33 Afghan Taliban in ten months on the request by the Afghan government and the Afghan High Peace Council.