Reuters, Kabul

Taliban militants will not take part in intra-Afghan talks until about 5,000 of its prisoners are released, a spokesman said yesterday, presenting a major possible barrier to ending the war.

Under an accord between the United States and the Islamist Taliban signed on Saturday, the two sides are committed to working towards the release of combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure.

The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, not involved in the talks, has since rejected that demand. Ghani said the issue of prisoner releases should be discussed as part of a comprehensive peace deal.

“We are fully ready for the intra-Afghan talks, but we are waiting for the release of our 5,000 prisoners,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters by phone.

“If our 5,000 prisoners - 100 or 200 more or less does not matter - do not get released there will be no intra-Afghan talks.”

Zabihullah said the majority of prisoners on the list of 5,000 had been captured by American forces and were held in Afghan government prisons and that they had prioritised sick and older prisoners.

US-led forces ousted the hardline militants from power in 2001.