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US soldier Bowe Bergdahl has been held hostage by the Taliban since his disappearance from his unit on June 30, 2009.
By Matthew DeLuca, Staff Writer, NBC News
A senior spokesman for the Afghan Taliban said the group is ready to hand over the only known American prisoner of war from the conflict in Afghanistan in exchange for five senior operatives held at Guantanamo Bay, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, 27, from Hailey, Idaho, has been held captive since 2009 after going missing from his base in Afghanistan. His whereabouts are not known, but it is believed he is being held in Pakistan.
NBC News has not independently confirmed the report.
Taliban spokesman Shaheen Suhail told the AP that Bergdahl ?is, as far as I know, in good condition,? in a phone interview on Thursday.
Speaking from his office in Doha, Suhail told the AP that the release of the five Taliban operatives from Guantanamo would have to come before peace talks could be opened.
?First has to be the release of detainees,? he told the news service. ?Yes. It would be an exchange. Then, step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward.?
Berghdal?s father said last year that he felt like his son?s captivity at the hands of the Taliban ?is not being addressed,? according to Reuters.
?I feel that I have to do my job as his father,? Bob Bergdahl said at the time. ?I?m working toward a diplomatic and humanitarian solution.?
Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that he would suspend his government?s involvement in talks between the US and the Taliban on Wednesday, barely 24 hours after Obama administration officials announced that they would hold talks in the Qatari capital of Doha.
The Taliban announced that it would open an office in Doha for what an administration official called ?milestone? talks, but a senior official for the insurgent group said ?formal? discussions would not begin without the release of Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo. The five commanders have not been identified.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Karzai twice in 24 hours after the Afghan president accused the US of a ?contradiction? in agreeing to talks with the Taliban, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
The Taliban office in Doha ?must not be treated as or represent itself as an embassy or other office representing the Afghan Taliban, as an emirate government or sovereign,? Psaki said.
Kerry is expected to travel to Doha this weekend to meet with Qatari officials in advance of talks on the deteriorating situation in Syria.
The Taliban spokesman told the AP that the group is committed to having their initial talks with the United States.
?First we talk to the Americans about those issues concerning the Americans and us and for those issues implementation is only in the hands of the Americans,? Suhail said, according to the AP.
?We want foreign troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan,? he said. ?If there are troops in Afghanistan then there will be a continuation of the war.?
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