KABUL, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The spokesman for the Afghan interim government's Ministry of Interior Affairs Abdul Mateen Qani confirmed that Washington has lifted the reward for acting Minister of Interior Affairs Sirajuddin Haqqani.
"The United States of America has lifted a 10 million U.S. dollar reward offer for information leading to the arrest of a major Taliban leader, Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting minister for interior affairs," Afghanistan's national Radio and Television quoted Qani as saying on Sunday.
Years ago, Washington accused Sirajuddin Haqqani of organizing deadly attacks against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan and the U.S.-backed Afghan administration during the 20-year presence of foreign troops in the country and announced a reward for information leading to his arrest.
Qani added that the United States also lifted a 5 million dollar reward for Abdul Aziz Haqqani and the same amount of reward for Yahya Haqqani, but did not specify the portfolios of the two in the Afghan interim administration.
The removal of the bounties has been announced after the visit of a U.S. delegation to Kabul, which led to the release of a U.S. citizen on Thursday. ■
