The Taliban says its peace pact with the United States does not alter the status of the insurgent group’s supreme leader as the “lawful ruler” of Afghanistan, saying he is duty-bound by religion to establish an “Islamic government” after foreign “occupation” troops exit the country.The latest Taliban pronouncement fuels the uncertainty plaguing the U.S.-Taliban deal signed a week ago in Qatar. It also comes a day after an American media outlet reported the U.S. government had intelligence that the radical insurgent group did not intend to abide by promises they made in the Feb. 29 peace agreement.A Taliban statement Saturday insisted, while referring to its reclusive chief Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, that in the presence of a “legal Emir” there cannot be another ruler of Afghanistan.An injured man is being moved toward an ambulance, after an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, March 6, 2020.U.S. officials have played down the insurgent violence, vowing to uphold their part of the deal with the Taliban.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday, “We still have confidence the Taliban leadership is working to deliver on its commitments,” despite the ongoing violence. However, he acknowledged the “road ahead will be difficult.”The renewed hostilities apparently have stemmed from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s announcement a day after the U.S.-Taliban deal that he had not given any commitment to Washington to free insurgent prisoners.For its part, Taliban officials have been pressing Washington to facilitate the prisoner swap promised in the agreement to make sure intra-Afghan negotiations can begin as scheduled.Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen announced Friday their negotiating team is ready with an agenda to engage with Afghan stakeholders, provided insurgent prisoners are released by Tuesday. Otherwise, he said, the responsibility for any delay in the proposed negotiations would rest with the other side.On Saturday, Ghani told the legislative National Assembly that “our negotiating team will be ready by March 10.”  He addressed the prisoner swap issue again, though the president did not indicate whether Taliban prisoners would be set free by the time intra-Afghan talks open.”I know the Taliban are demanding the release of 5,000 prisoners before the start of the talks. I as president do not have any wish to have Taliban prisoners, but their release should be based on a transparent mechanism so people could see it leads to a positive change in terms of a complete cease-fire.” 
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