Kabul to trade Taliban commander's body for hostages

KABUL, June 5 (Reuters) The Afghan government has agreed to hand over the body of a slain Taliban commander to his family in return for the release of five local health workers captured by the Islamist insurgents, an official said today.

The five were kidnapped in the southern province of Kandahar in March.

Their captors originally demanded the release of Taliban prisoners as ransom and instead this week asked for the body of Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah who U.S.-led forces killed last month, the official said.

''Yesterday it was agreed to,'' said Abdullah Fahim, a health ministry advisor. ''It's their right to have the body of their relative,'' he added.

Afghan authorities buried Dadullah's body in an undisclosed location soon after he was killed. His death is seen as the biggest blow to the Taliban since they began an insurgency after their overthrow from power in 2001.

Nicknamed as Afghanistan's Al Zarqawi after the slain al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Dadullah was the main architect of suicide bombings, kidnapping of foreigners and Afghans, a series of beheadings and the rise of violence in the south.

The health ministry spokesman said a person nominated by Dadullah's family was expected to arrive in Kandahar from Pakistan later on Tuesday to receive the body.

The swap would be handled by local authorities in Kandahar province, Fahim said, which has seen some of the fiercest fighting between Taliban and US-led forces.

REUTERS DS PM1110