Travel ban soon to end for swapped Taliban

 In this May 12, 2015 file photo, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington.
In this May 12, 2015 file photo, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Washington.

WASHINGTON -- Five senior Taliban leaders released last year from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be able to move freely around the world next week as their one-year travel ban expires.

The five detainees were sent to Qatar, where government officials agreed to monitor their activities and prevent them from traveling out of the country under the terms of the May 2014 exchange. Bergdahl, who had been held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years after walking away from his Army post in Afghanistan, was released to the U.S. military.

He recently was charged with desertion.

U.S. officials have discussed with the Qataris the possibility of extending the travel ban after it expires Monday. But so far, the White House has not publicly announced any new agreement with Qatar, meaning the five could leave the small nation on the Arabian Peninsula at the end of the month.

"In Congress, we spent a lot of time debating whether the Qataris were going to adequately keep an eye on them in the course of the 12 months," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee. "My point all along was that I'm more worried about month No. 13 than the first 12."

Schiff has been privy to the details of the still-secret memorandum of understanding the U.S. reached with Qatar that put the five under a 12-month watch after their release.

At least one of the five allegedly contacted militants during the past year while in Qatar. No details have been disclosed about that contact, but the White House confirmed that one was put under enhanced surveillance. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said last week: "I know that at least one has had communication with the Taliban."

One or more of the detainees had some members of the al-Qaida-affiliated Haqqani militant group travel to Qatar to meet with them earlier in the year, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. That was an indication the group was reaching out to communicate with the so-called Taliban Five, said Graham, who predicts all five will rejoin the fight.

Four of the five former detainees remain on the United Nations' blacklist, which freezes their assets and has them under a separate travel ban. But the U.N. has acknowledged that its travel ban has been violated. In a report late last year, the U.N. sanctions committee stated: "Regrettably, the monitoring team continues to receive a steady -- albeit officially unconfirmed -- flow of media reports indicating that some listed individuals have become increasingly adept at circumventing the sanctions measures, the travel ban in particular."

The State Department insists that U.S. officials work to mitigate the risk of former Guantanamo detainees returning to the fight, threatening Americans or jeopardizing U.S. national security. U.S. officials have noted in the past that the five Taliban leaders are middle-aged or older, were former officials in the Taliban government and probably wouldn't be seen again on any battlefield, although they could continue to be active members of the Taliban.

Members of Congress have repeatedly expressed concern about what will happen after the travel ban expires. They have asked President Barack Obama's administration to try to persuade Qatar to extend the monitoring.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., wrote Defense Secretary Ashton Carter in March, asking him to take any step necessary to make sure the five do not return to the battlefield in Afghanistan. And earlier this month, the 13 Republican members of the House Intelligence committee wrote Obama, asking him to urge Qatar to extend travel restrictions on the former detainees indefinitely.

A Section on 05/28/2015

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