Taliban: Afghan Government Freed Prominent Taliban Members to Secure Release of the Italian Hostage

In a communiqué posted on Islamist websites on March 20, 2007, the Taliban announced the names of five of its members who had been released from the Afghani prisons as part of the deal negotiated by the Afghan government to free Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo.

According to the message, the released members held important positions with the Taliban regime: "Mufti Latif Hakimi (former official spokesman of the Taliban regime), Muhammad Yasir (former head of the cultural committee of the Taliban regime), Mulla Akhtar Muhammad, Hafiz Hamdallah, and Mulla 'Abd Ghafur (all of whom had an important role in planning and executing military missions under the Taliban regime)."