Two and a half years after going on a trip, here he is on the way back. This Thursday, George Glezmann, an American detained since December 2022 in Afghanistan, was released by the Taliban. “(He) is on the way back to his wife Aleksandra,” the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said in a statement, welcoming the role of Qatar in these negotiations.
Aeronautical mechanic from Atlanta and former employee of Delta Air Lines, George Glezmann had been arrested while visited Afghanistan as a tourist in December 2022.
First visit to Kabul since January
“Today is a big day,” said Zalmay Khalilzad, ex-enmissal for Afghanistan on X. The Taliban government has agreed to () release it in a goodwill gesture towards the American president and people, “he said. Earlier in the day, he had met the Taliban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Kabul, Boehler, who had been the choice of the American president for the special envoy for hostage affairs.
It is “a gesture of good will, reflecting the will of Afghanistan to truly engage (dialogue) with all the parties, in particular the United States of America, on the basis of respect and mutual interests,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on X.
This is not the first time that such negotiations have taken place. Last January, the Taliban had already released two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, as part of an exchange of prisoners involving Khan Mohammed, a Taliban fighter detained in the United States for drug trafficking and terrorism. Shortly after, a former Canadian soldier, David Lavery, also found freedom thanks to the mediation of Qatar.
“A new chapter” in bilateral relations
Since Kabul’s takeover by the Taliban in 2021, Washington was redoubled mistrust. Until this Thursday, exchanges with the Taliban were carried out in third countries, such as Qatar. But Donald Trump’s return to the oval office has changed the situation somewhat. During his first presidency in 2017, the Republican had signed a historic peace agreement with the Taliban, paving the way for the withdrawal of American troops in 2021.
After the re -election of Donald Trump, the government in Kabul had also said to hope “a new chapter” in bilateral relations. Afghanistan and the United States “must get out of the effects of the 20-year war and have political and economic relations,” said the head of Afghan diplomacy, calling for “dialogue to solve problems”.
But if the release of George Glezmann is an advance, it does not mark the end of negotiations with regard to other American citizens prisoners in Afghanistan. “This is a positive and constructive step, but other Americans are still detained,” said Marco Rubio, without specifying their identity. The State Department confirmed that it was still trying to obtain the return of six American citizens as well as the remains of another national.
Last February, the Afghan authorities announced the detention of a Sin-American arrested in the province of Bamiyan, a tourist region known for its giant Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. No information was communicated on the reasons for its arrest or on the conditions of its detention.