New Delhi, March 23 -- he United States has lifted its $10 million bounty on Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, a move Afghan officials say signals a shift in US-Taliban relations. Haqqani, a key leader of the Haqqani Network, had long been sought by US authorities for orchestrating deadly attacks, including a 2008 Kabul hotel bombing that killed six people, including an American citizen.

His name, along with those of Abdul Aziz Haqqani and Yahya Haqqani, has been removed from the US State Department's Rewards for Justice website, though he remains listed on the FBI's wanted list as of Sunday.

The decision to lift the bounty came shortly after the Taliban released George Glezmann, a US citizen who had been held captive for over two year...