A senior Taliban spokesperson has said they are willing to swap a captive US soldier held since 2009 for 5 senior militants held at Guantanamo Bay.
In an exclusive telephone interview with the Associated Press from the Taliban office in Qatar, spokesman Shaheen Suhail said that army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl "is, as far as I know, in good condition".
"First has to be the release of detainees. Yes. It would be an exchange. Then step by step, we want to build bridges of confidence to go forward."
Contrary to previous reports, the Taliban have refused to take down their flag but have changed the name badge of their office in Doha.
"First we talk to the Americans about those issues concerning the Americans and us (because) for those issues implementation is only in the hands of the Americans," he said.
"We want foreign troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan," he added. "If there are troops in Afghanistan then there will be a continuation of the war."
Suhail hinted at possible Taliban approval of American trainers and advisers for the Afghan Army, saying that "of course, there is cooperation between countries in other things. We need that cooperation."