Transfer of Gitmo prisoners to Taliban stalled because Qatar won't monitor them

Qatar has balked at U.S. demands that it take steps to ensure the detainees can’t leave the country after they are handed over, said the officials, who were briefed on the negotiations.

U.S. officials said the negotiations with Qatar were continuing and that sticking points could still be resolved. But the Pentagon has now taken the lead from the State Department in the negotiations with Qatar, officials said.

“The last thing the secretary wants to do is write condolence letters to service members killed as a result of anyone being returned to the battlefield,” a senior military official said. Qatari officials in Doha and Washington couldn’t be reached to comment…

“The Taliban know that peace is the only way out of this crisis. They realize that it is in their best interests,” said Syed Mohammed Akbar Agha, cousin of the Taliban’s main negotiator with the U.S., in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “Taliban hostility to the U.S. won’t last forever. Sooner or later, we’ll be friends and have good relations with the U.S.”