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Around 400 Taliban prisoners have been released as part of the peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities.
Among the released prisoners is likely Muhammed Ramadan, the Taliban terrorist who participated in the 2008 attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul in 2008, Aftenposten writes.
Six people were killed in the attack, including 38-year-old Dagbladet journalist Carsten Thomassen. Six other people were injured, including Foreign Ministry employee Bjørn Svenungsen, who was shot.
Thomas’s killer was probably released
– Historical experiment
A Norwegian delegation, led by then-Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party), was staying at the hotel when the attack occurred. The attack was aimed at the Norwegian delegation. Several Norwegian journalists accompanied Støre on the trip, including 38-year-old Thomassen.
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– It is difficult to reconcile with the fact that someone who has killed innocent people goes free. At the same time, this is the Afghans’ choice to make a historic bid for peace, says Gahr Støre in a statement to Dagbladet.
Negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities are taking place in Doha, Qatar, and a prerequisite for Taliban participation was that around 400 Taliban prisoners be released, writes Aftenposten.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry assumes that Ramadan was one of them, but has the advantage of having the Afghan authorities confirm the release.
Never forget, never sleep
Sentenced to death
Ramadan, then 22, was arrested after the attack and sentenced to death, but the sentence was never carried out and has been jailed until now.
Thomassen’s co-inhabitant and mother of his two children, Ellen Marie Hofsvang, tells Dagbladet that she understands the launch is part of a larger picture, but otherwise refers to her comments on Aftenposten.
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He also tells the newspaper that he shares the concerns of human rights organizations about the consequences of his release.
The e-service: – Serena’s threat was not unique
– Risky choice
Jonas Gahr Støre also understands the decision, although he admits it can be risky.
– It is a brave and risky choice, but we must never forget that it is the civilians in Afghanistan who have suffered and lost the most. So I am impressed when the Norwegians affected and abandoned after the terror against Serena, Ellen Hofsvang, Carsten Thomassen’s partner, and my former Foreign Ministry employee, Bjørn Svenungsen, say that they understand that this can be a contribution to peace. I have great respect for that and agree with his opinion, Støre tells Dagbladet.
Norwegian top diplomat Kai Eide, who was the last to have a proper conversation with Thomassen at the Serena Hotel, also describes the problem as difficult.
– There is something called justice, and you must receive your punishment and fulfill it. Then you come across the broader perspectives, which are: Should we try to end this to save lives in the future? Here, as in several previous conflicts, one has had to choose, Eide tells Dagbladet’s “Right on” podcast.
Avoided the attack
Eide escaped the attack in minutes and was sitting in a car on his way to President Hamid Karzai’s office when it crashed in front of the Serena Hotel.
Three months later, he was appointed a UN special envoy in Afghanistan. He “sincerely” hopes that the Doha negotiations will be the beginning of the end of the conflict, but predicts reefs in the sea.
– In the future, it will be very difficult. And it will take time, much longer than you think. There will be incidents, perhaps an attack, perhaps a statement, that causes one of the parties to say that enough is enough. The question is whether the parties manage to remain calm and not overreact. That will be the great challenge.
