Freed US sergeant Bergdahl arrives in Germany: Army base

This US Army handout photo obtained on June 1, 2014, shows Private First Class(Pfc) Bowe Bergdahl, before his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan. United States soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released on Saturday after being held for five years by the
This US Army handout photo obtained on June 1, 2014, shows Private First Class(Pfc) Bowe Bergdahl, before his capture by the Taliban in Afghanistan. United States soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released on Saturday after being held for five years by the Taleban in Afghanistan, arrived in Germany, according to the United States military medical centre there. -- PHOTO: AFP

BERLIN (AFP) - United States soldier Bowe Bergdahl, released on Saturday after being held for five years by the Taleban in Afghanistan, arrived in Germany, according to the United States military medical centre there.

Sgt Bergdahl will now remain at the Landstuhl centre in southern Germany while he continues what the US army called his "reintegration process", the base said in a statement on Sunday.

The base said there was "no pre-determined amount of time involved" for Sgt Bergdahl's recovery process, adding the medical staff at Landstuhl were "sensitive" to what he had gone through and would "proceed with his reintegration at a pace with which he is comfortable".

"The full focus of the Landstuhl team is to provide necessary medical care and a safe environment for his recovery," the statement added.

Sgt Bergdahl, the only US soldier captured by the Taleban since the war began in 2001, was freed in exchange for five senior insurgent detainees as both parties claimed success for the dramatic deal, which was brokered by Qatar.

The five Taleban insurgent detainees will spend a year in the Gulf state, an informed Qatari source said.

"They will stay for one year in Qatar," the source told AFP, requesting not to be named.

US President Barack Obama has said the Qatari government had given assurances of measures to protect US national security in mediating the release of Sgt Bergdahl in exchange for the Taleban prisoners, who arrived in Doha on Sunday afternoon.

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