By Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes
WASHINGTON--Taliban militants in Afghanistan on Saturday handed over Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held as a prisoner of war for almost five years, to U.S. Special Operations Forces in exchange for the release of five Afghan Taliban prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay prison.
The breakthrough was brokered by Qatar, which sent representatives to the U.S. military prison in Cuba to take custody of the five detainees, who used to be high-ranking members of the former Taliban government. The five were being flown to the small Gulf state where they will be required to stay for at least a year to ensure they don't return to Afghanistan to join the war there, U.S. officials said.
Some members of Congress criticized the prisoner exchange. Rep. Howard P. McKeon (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. James Inhofe (R., Okla.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the means by which Sgt. Bergdahl's freedom was secured need to be examined. They said that U.S. adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans.
The prisoner exchange marked the culmination of years of on-again, off-again talks aimed at securing the release of Sgt. Bergdahl, who was captured near his base in Afghanistan and was the only American prisoner of war. Broader U.S. attempts to broker reconciliation talks in Afghanistan have foundered.
The 28-year-old sergeant was released by the Taliban at 10:30 a.m. EDT to several dozen U.S. Special Operations Forces who arrived at a rendezvous point in eastern Afghanistan by helicopter. There, the Americans were met by roughly 18 members of the Taliban, who handed over Sgt. Bergdahl without incident. Sgt. Bergdahl was then loaded onto a helicopter and flown to an American base for evaluation. On the helicopter, Sgt. Bergdahl wrote on a paper plate "SF?" A member of the U.S. Special Operations Forces team replied, "Yes, we have been looking for you for a long time."
Sgt. Bergdahl then broke down and cried, a U.S. official said.
U.S. officials said Mr. Bergdahl appeared to be in good condition and was able to walk. He is on his way from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to the U.S. military hospital at Landstuhl, Germany, a defense official said.
His parents, who live in Hailey, Idaho, were in Washington, D.C., and were notified that their son had been released. In a statement, his parents, Bob and Jani Bergdahl, said: "We cannot wait to wrap our arms around our only son."
President Barack Obama said in a written statement that he was honored to call Sgt. Bergdahl's parents "to express our joy that they can expect his safe return, mindful of their courage and sacrifice throughout this ordeal."
On Saturday evening, Mr. Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House Rose Garden together with Mr. Bergdahl's parents.
"While Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten," Mr. Obama said, adding that the U.S. does not ever leave its men and women in uniform behind.
"We're committed to winding down the war in Afghanistan, and we are committed to closing Gitmo," he said. "But we also made an ironclad commitment to bring our prisoners of war home. That's who we are as Americans."
Bob Bergdahl said his son is having trouble speaking English and that his recovery will be a "considerable task for our family."
Though Taliban leaders have so far balked at entering peace talks with the U.S., Obama administration officials said they hoped the prisoner exchange would lead to a broader dialogue as the U.S. withdraws its forces from Afghanistan.
"It is our hope Sergeant Bergdahl's recovery could potentially open the door for broader discussions among Afghans about the future of their country by building confidence that it is possible for all sides to find common ground," Mr. Obama said in his statement.
A defense official said the transfer was done in compliance with current U.S. law that mandates notification of Congress before detainees are transferred. "We have a memorandum of understanding with the government of Qatar, we have the appropriate security assurances from them," the defense official said.
But Rep. McKeon and Sen. Inhofe were critical of the swap. In a statement Saturday, they said "America has maintained a prohibition on negotiating with terrorists for good reason." The prisoner exchange "may have consequences for the rest of our forces and all Americans," they said. "Our terrorist adversaries now have a strong incentive to capture Americans. That incentive will put our forces in Afghanistan and around the world at even greater risk."
Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, welcomed Sgt. Bergdahl's release, but called the Taliban detainees being transferred to Qatar "hardened terrorists who have the blood of Americans and countless Afghans on their hands."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) praised those who worked to secure the release of Sgt. Bergdahl. He also said that President Obama "rightly recognized our solemn obligation to take every possible measure to protect and defend the men and women who serve our nation."
The U.S. identified the five Afghan detainees as Mohammed Fazl, Noorullah Noori, Abdul Haq Wasiq, Khairullah Khairkhwa and Muhammad Nabi Omari. U.S. officials said they had departed Saturday from Guantanamo Bay to Qatar aboard a U.S. military aircraft.
The five were labeled as high-risk, according to secret independent assessments by the U.S. Defense Department that were made public by WikiLeaks.
Mr. Khairkhwa, the Taliban's former Minister of Interior, was one of the Taliban's liaisons to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to Defense Department assessments. Mr. Wasiq served as the Taliban's deputy minister of intelligence until the Taliban was overthrown in 2001.
Qatar has provided the U.S. with assurances that the five detainees, once they arrive in Qatar, won't pose a threat to the U.S. These assurances, according to U.S. officials, include at least a one-year travel ban, which bars them from leaving Qatari territory.
Then-Pfc. Bergdahl was captured on June 30, 2009, by militants after leaving his U.S. base in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan. The circumstances surrounding his decision to walk off the base have remained murky.
While a prisoner, he has received regular military promotions. However, the circumstances of his captivity have never been clear. U.S. officials have said he was believed to be held for most of the last five years in Pakistan by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group that is allied with but separate from the Taliban, and not directly by the Taliban.
But officials said Sgt. Bergdahl was handed over by Taliban, not Haqqani militants.
The U.S. held secret discussions with the Taliban starting in late 2011 and early 2012, but the Taliban broke those contacts off. The U.S. hasn't had any direct talks with the Taliban since then, except for messages relayed back-and-forth through intermediaries, most important the government of Qatar.
Last year, the Taliban opened an office in Qatar, a move backed by the U.S. as part of negotiations aimed at securing Sgt. Bergdahl's release. That effort soon bogged down in controversy and was abandoned.
Then last November, the Taliban signaled to the U.S. that it was prepared to restart indirect talks on the limited issue of a prisoner exchange. The Taliban leaders involved, however, made clear that they weren't prepared to discuss the broader issue of reconciliation, U.S. officials said.
The talks progressed relatively quickly. First, the Taliban provided the U.S. with a "proof of life"--a video released earlier this year that showed Sgt. Bergdahl alive. The Americans, in turn, agreed to release all five Afghan Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay at one time, instead of in stages.
"Several weeks ago an opportunity arose to resume talks on Bergdahl and we seized that opportunity," a senior defense official said.
The final prisoner swap negotiations were secretly conducted through Qatar, which acted as a mediator, passing messages back and forth.
Prisoner swaps have been rare, but not unprecedented, during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Qais and Laith Qazali, two brothers accused of killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, were released by Iraqi officials in exchange for a British hostage and the bodies of four other U.K. nationals, although the U.S. publicly denied the brothers were freed as a prisoner exchange.
Colleen McCain Nelson contributed to this article.
Write to Adam Entous at adam.entous@wsj.com and Julian E. Barnes at julian.barnes@wsj.com
