363 Pakistanis who fought with Taliban freed

[Rose Siding]

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On Sunday, after spending as much as 3 years behind bars, the 363 Pakistani jihad fighters were released by the Afghan government, a major step toward improving relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. These men were said to be the last Pakistanis held by the Afghan government as Taliban sympathizers captured during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.
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Last month, a United Nations (news - web sites) human-rights expert called for the release of the Pakistanis and also several hundred Afghans detained as Taliban fighters, saying they were being held in inhuman conditions for no legal reason. The Afghan prisoners--about 300--are expected to be freed Monday.

About 3,000 jihad fighters were detained in the fall of 2001 by the Northern Alliance, commanded by warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, who helped the U.S. oust the Taliban.

Many of the men were killed, found later in shipping containers or unmarked graves. Others were sent to U.S. military detention centers. Still others seemed almost forgotten. Instead of being released at the end of the war, or shipped to a U.S. detention center, they were kept in a prison run by Dostum. Three months ago, they were transferred to Pul-e-Charki jail.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2027&ncid=2027&e=5&u=/chitribts/20040913/ts_chicagotrib/363pakistaniswhofoughtwithtalibanfreed