US lawmakers concerned over Taliban transfer

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers are steeling for a public battle against the possible transfer of Taliban detainees out of Guantanamo Bay prison, a key step in the Obama administration's bid to broker a peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan.

Congressional opposition is gaining steam, especially among Republicans but also among some senior Democrats, to the potential transfer to Qatar of five senior Taliban prisoners, a good-faith move that could set the stage for eventual political talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.

One Republican lawmaker said public opposition would escalate sharply if and when the administration formally notified Congress it intends to transfer the prisoners, who come from the highest ranks of the Afghan militant movement.

"If they do that, then all hell breaks loose. There's just no way," the lawmaker said on condition of anonymity.

While Congress does not approve such transfers, a 30-day waiting period is required before they take place. The White House might rethink such a risky move if serious bipartisan friction emerged in a presidential election year.

Yet efforts to broker a peace deal between the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban have become central to US strategy in Afghanistan, where insurgents remain capable of launching damaging attacks even after more than a decade of foreign military efforts.

Western nations have long planned to pull most combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But as fatigue and the financial burden of the war mount, it appears NATO nations will seek to curtail their Afghan missions even earlier.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday the United States would seek to shift from a combat to an advisory role in 2013.

A fast-approaching departure for foreign troops is one reason why the congressional take on the reconciliation bid and especially the transfer of prisoners some lawmakers fear will re-emerge on the battlefield is so sceptical.

"It would seem that the Taliban are free to wait the President out and recoup their senior leaders without obtaining any real guarantee for a peaceful, stable or free Afghanistan," said Claude Chafin, a spokesman for Buck McKeon, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

Lawmakers are also reluctant to accept a plan that, successful, would likely bring a hard-line with a history of oppressing.

Recent intelligence analysis has suggested that while the Taliban has been weakened, militants are not ready to abandon their fight against Western troops.

The administration has said a transfer, if it occurs, will be a "national decision" made in consultation with Congress.

Copyright Reuters, 2012