Afghan Call to Release Gitmo Prisoners

U.S. asked to release Guantanamo detainees to help Afghan talks

AP Photo Afghan President Hamid Karzai prays with members of Afghanistan's new peace council during the inaugural session Thursday in Kabul.

Oct 13, 2010 - Releasing Taliban figures detained at Guantanamo Bay and scratching scores of others off the U.N. sanctions list would jump-start peace talks aimed at ending the 9-year-old war, members of Afghanistan's new peace council said Tuesday.

The council members, who hold their first business meeting on Wednesday, said goodwill gestures from the U.S. and international community could spur reconciliation talks - perhaps at a neutral location in Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Egypt or Turkey.

The momentum for a political solution has been slowly building in Afghanistan as public support for the war has waned in the West. The renewed push for peace comes as the last of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements have arrived in Afghanistan, pushing deeper into areas long held by insurgents. {read rest}