DHAKA: The only US soldier held prisoner in Afghanistan has been freed as part of a swap deal with the Taliban, brokered by the government of Qatar.

Bowe Bergdahl's release was part of a negotiation that included the freeing of five high-profile Afghan prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, statements from the US government said.

The US president, Barack Obama, thanked Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his commitment to the mediation between the US and the Taliban.

The 28-year-old Bergdahl, a sergeant in the US army, had been held by the Taliban since June 30, 2009. He was handed to US troops by the Taliban on Saturday evening in an area of eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border

Officials said the exchange was not violent and Bergdahl was in good condition and able to walk.

He was on his way to an American military hospital in Germany after receiving medical care at Bagram Air Base, the main US base in Afghanistan.

The Taliban prisoners had also departed the Guantanamo prison and are aboard a US military C-17 aircraft en route to authorities in Qatar. They were named on Saturday as Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Noori, Mohammed Nabi, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Abdul Haq Wasiq.

Source: BBC

BDST: 0933 HRS, JUN 01, 2014