No U.S. decision on Guantanamo inmates transfer to Qatar

The United States has not yet made a decision on whether to transfer five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo to Qatar, aPentagon spokesman said Saturday.

The decision had not been made but the US goal of "closing thedetention facility at Guantanamo is well established," spokesmanTodd Breasseale told AFP.

"Any decision to transfer a detainee from Guantanamo would be undertaken in accordance with US law and in consultation with the Congress," he added.

Afghan officials in Kabul had said the detainees agreed to be transferred to Qatar, in a move that would meet a key demand of the hardline Islamists and likely ease the path to peace talks.

A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the government had also dropped its opposition to the transfer, as it seeks to boost reconciliation efforts.

Karzai's spokesman said the inmates had told a visiting Afghan delegation they were willing to be transferred to the Middle East state, and it was now up to the United States whether they were freed.

Around 20 Afghans, including five members of the former Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001, are held in the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.