Taliban FM freed after talks with US

A senior foreign ministry official in southern Afghanistan told Reuters that Muttawakil had been freed from the US military headquarters at Bagram after helping to arrange talks between US forces and the Taliban in the southern city of Kandahar.

A close friend of Muttawakil said he had been released four days ago.

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"Now he is living with his family in Kandahar," he said. "I myself have spoken to him by telephone."

Muttawakil, considered a moderate member of the radical Islamic movement, surrendered to Kandahar authorities in February 2002 and was handed over to US forces.

The foreign ministry official, who did not want to be named, said Muttawakil had played "a very important role" in arranging talks between US forces and the Taliban near the airport in Kandahar a few days ago, but declined to give more details.