Pakistan is to release its most senior Afghan Taliban detainee, Abdul Ghani Baradar, a former military chief often described as the insurgents' ex-second in command.
The Afghan government has long demanded that Islamabad free Baradar, whose arrest in January 2010 saw Pakistan accused of sabotaging initiatives to bring peace in war-torn Afghanistan.
His release would bring to 34 the number of Taliban detainees that Pakistan has released since last year, in what Afghan officials hope will encourage peace talks with the insurgents.
There has been little evidence, however, that the releases have had a positive effect on stalled talks, and Baradar's influence has been debated after years away from the battlefield.
"Pakistan has decided in principle to release Mullah Baradar," said Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime minister on national security and foreign affairs.
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Aziz said Baradar would not be handed over to the government in Afghanistan, but was "likely to be released this month".
The announcement came two weeks after Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited Pakistan for talks with new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, at which Baradar's release was again requested.
A member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, set up to coordinate peace efforts, welcomed the prospective release but called on Pakistan to coordinate his release with them.
Elements of the Pakistani state are widely accused of funding, controlling and sheltering the Taliban. Islamabad says publicly it will do anything to stop the fighting in Afghanistan.
Afghan officials believe prisoner releases can encourage former detainees to talk to the Kabul government, although several prisoners are understood to have returned to the battlefield.
