Bowe Bergdahl release: US parties clash on Afghan deal
The
main US political parties have clashed over the deal to swap five
Guantanamo Bay detainees for a Taliban-held soldier, with Republicans
warning it could put American lives at risk.
Senator John McCain said the detainees, who were transferred to Qatar, were some of the "highest high-risk people".Afghanistan also attacked the deal, saying handing prisoners to a third country was against international law.
Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, 28, was handed to US forces in Afghanistan on Saturday.
In an emotional address on Sunday, his father, Robert Bergdahl, said he was proud how far his son was willing to go to help the Afghan people, but warned that his recovery would take a long time.
He said he and his wife had not yet spoken to the soldier, who is in a good condition and currently undergoing medical care at a US military hospital in Germany.
Mr McCain said the Taliban released were "possibly responsible for the deaths of thousands" and may have "the ability to re-enter the fight", in comments to CBS TV.
Republican chairman of the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, told CNN that Washington had "now set a price" for al-Qaeda ransom threats.
Chuck Hagel: "No shots were fired - it went as well as it could have"
Questions were raised over the legality of the deal, after the Obama administration did not give Congress sufficient notice about the transfer of the Taliban detainees.
But US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is currently in Afghanistan, dismissed allegations of wrongdoing, saying the military had to act quickly "to essentially save his life".
"We didn't negotiate with terrorists... As I said and explained before, Sergeant Bergdahl was a prisoner of war. That's a normal process in getting your prisoners back," he told NBC TV.
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice said that Sgt Bergdahl's failing health had created an "acute urgency" to act and therefore made it "necessary and appropriate" not to adhere to the 30-day notification requirement.
The five detainees are thought to be the most senior Afghans held at the US detention facility in Cuba, having been captured during America's military campaign in 2001.
In a rare public statement on Sunday, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar described the exchange as a "big victory".
But President Barack Obama said that he had received security guarantees from Qatar - which mediated the deal - "that it will put in place measures to protect our national security".
They have been banned from leaving Qatar for at least a year.
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