Freed ex-Taliban FM offers to help Karzai

Mutawakel's letter was sent earlier this month from his home city Kandahar, the Taliban's former stronghold in southern Afghanistan, Karzai's spokesman Jawed Ludin said.

"Mutawakel, who I believe is still in custody, has written to the President and has offered that he can help in any way that is possible," Ludin said.

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"The letter was sent from Kandahar."

Mutawakel was released from US military headquarters at Bagram air base and flown to Kandahar earlier this month, his uncle and an Afghan official told AFP.

His uncle Abdul Ghafoor Khadam said he was being held by US forces at Kandahar's airbase.

Several former Taliban officials, including "high-ranking" members of the ousted regime, have made individual approaches to Karzai offering to side with his government, Ludin said. None were criminals or terrorists, he said.