WASHINGTON (AP) — An American guy who used to be kidnapped greater than two years in the past whilst touring via Afghanistan as a vacationer has been launched through the Taliban in a take care of the Trump management that Qatari negotiators helped dealer, the State Division mentioned Thursday.
George Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, is the 3rd American detainee to be launched through the Taliban since January. He used to be seized through the Taliban’s intelligence services and products in December 2022 and used to be designated through the U.S. executive as wrongfully detained the next yr.
In a commentary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned Glezmann used to be on his as far back as america to be reunited along with his spouse, Aleksandra, and praised Qatar for “steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts” that he mentioned had been “instrumental in securing George’s release.”
“George’s release is a positive and constructive step,” Rubio mentioned. “It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained around the world.”
Glezmann used to be being accompanied again to the U.S., via Qatar’s capital, Doha, through Adam Boehler, who has been dealing with hostage problems for President Donald Trump’s management. The Taliban disclosed previous Thursday that Boehler had met with a delegation that incorporated Afghan International Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Glezmann, 66, used to be in Afghanistan as a vacationer on the time of his abduction and has visited greater than 100 international locations as a part of his hobby for exploring other cultures, in line with a profile at the website online of the Foley Basis, a company that advocates for the discharge of American citizens detained through overseas international locations.
George Glezmann is loose. George used to be wrongfully detained in Afghanistan for 2 and a part years, however now he’s on his option to be reunited along with his spouse Aleksandra. Welcome house, George! 🇺🇸
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) March 20, 2025
On this handout photograph launched through Qatar Ministry of International Affairs, George Glezmann, middle, poses with Adam Boehler, 2d left, and Zalmay Khalilzad, 2d proper, and Qatari diplomats in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2025, earlier than departing to Doha, Qatar. (Qatar Ministry of International Affairs by the use of AP)
The discharge of Glezmann is a part of what the Taliban has in the past described because the “normalization” of ties between the U.S. and Afghanistan following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Maximum international locations nonetheless don’t acknowledge the Taliban’s rule.
Glezmann’s unlock follows a separate deal, organized in January within the ultimate days of the Biden management and likewise mediated through the Qataris, that secured the releases of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty.
The Taliban’s International Ministry in Kabul mentioned on the time that the ones two U.S. electorate were exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who used to be sentenced to 2 lifestyles phrases in 2008 after being convicted beneath U.S. narco-terrorism regulations for securing heroin and opium that he knew used to be certain for the U.S.
Not like in that association, the U.S. didn’t surrender any prisoner to safe Glezmann’s unlock, which used to be performed as a goodwill gesture, in line with an authentic briefed at the subject who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
On Thursday, Afghanistan’s International Ministry showed Glezmann’s unlock on “humanitarian grounds.” In a commentary, it mentioned the “Islamic Emirate again reaffirms its longstanding position that dialogue, understanding and diplomacy provide effective avenues for resolving all issues.”
President Joe Biden pondered earlier than he left place of job an previous proposal that will have concerned the discharge of Glezmann and different American citizens for Muhammad Rahim, one of the crucial ultimate detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
However Biden advised households all through a decision in January that he would now not make stronger buying and selling Rahim except the Taliban launched Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who labored as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications corporate and vanished in 2022.
The FBI and Habibi’s circle of relatives have mentioned they imagine Habibi used to be taken through Taliban forces, however the Taliban has denied protecting him. Representatives for Habibi on Thursday cited what they mentioned used to be “overwhelming evidence” that he used to be arrested through the Taliban after his house used to be searched through other folks figuring out themselves as a part of the Taliban’s safety carrier.
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“We are confident that the Trump Administration will hold firm that my brother needs to be released for relations with the U.S. to move forward,” one in every of Habibi’s brothers, Ahmad, mentioned in a commentary. “We have reason to be confident Mahmood is alive and in Taliban custody, despite their hollow denials of holding him. My brother is an innocent man who has been held away from his wife, young daughter, and elderly parents for 953 days.”
Related Press writers Victoria Eastwood in Cairo and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this file.
