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In the last hours of his term, President Joe Biden negotiated a captive speech with the Taliban that released U.S. citizens Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty from Taliban custody.
Not included successful the deal, however, were U.S. citizens George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted connected X that helium was "just hearing" of the detentions of further Americans by the Taliban.
"If this is true, we volition person to instantly spot a VERY BIG bounty connected their apical leaders, possibly adjacent bigger than the 1 we had connected Bin Laden," Rubio wrote.
2 AMERICANS RELEASED IN EXCHANGE FOR TALIBAN PRISONER
Dennis Fitzpatrick, who is coordinating efforts extracurricular the U.S. authorities for Glezmann’s release, claimed Glezmann was "never a superior precedence for the Biden White House."
"President Biden and [former National Security Advisor] Jake Sullivan decided to permission George Glezmann successful Kabul for nary bully reason," Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. "We are assured that President Trump’s clear-eyed enactment volition unafraid George’s merchandise to his family."
Fitzpatrick added that 66-year-old Glezmann is "a wholly guiltless man" who was "a hard-working, blue-collar hose mechanic earlier helium was wrongfully detained. He doesn’t merit to beryllium utilized arsenic a pawn."
Glezmann has been successful detention since Dec. 5, 2022, erstwhile helium was traveling to Afghanistan to "explore the taste scenery and affluent past of the country" according to a Senate solution from July 2024 calling for his contiguous release.
The solution states that Glezmann’s intelligence and carnal information were deteriorating arsenic a effect of his detention successful a nine-foot quadrate underground cell. He has lone been allowed constricted calls to household and has experienced "facial tumors, hypertension, terrible malnutrition, and different aesculapian conditions" arsenic a effect of his detention.
While the Taliban admit to holding Glezmann successful custody, they importune they bash not clasp Mahmood Habibi.
Habibi’s member Ahmad told Fox News Digital the household "know[s] that my member is inactive successful Taliban custody. I can't stock excessively overmuch astir that due to the fact that we don't privation to enactment him oregon others astatine risk. But anyone accepting the Taliban's hollow suggestions that they bash not person him is falling for their lies.
"We person aggregate witnesses to his apprehension by the [General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI)]. We person aggregate witnesses who were held with him astatine GDI headquarters. The Taliban has ever claimed they don't person him and don't cognize who helium is. How bash they explicate the evident contradictions to this?"
Ahmad besides claimed the household "know[s] that the U.S. authorities has method grounds that Mahmood was successful GDI custody agelong aft his arrest."
He alleges the Biden National Security Council "micromanaged the State Department's effort to unafraid my brother's release" and "blocked [the State Department] from utilizing the information successful their discussions with the Taliban, adjacent though we told them that it would person straight confronted the Taliban's claims that they ne'er heard of my brother."
Neither the State Department nor the National Security Council responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for confirmation of Ahmad’s claims.
Fox News Digital besides reached retired to Taliban spokespersons Zabihullah Mujahid and Suhail Shaheen astir Habibi’s detention and asked Mujahid what happened to Habibi aft helium was arrested by the GDI. Mujahid did not respond. Shaheen directed Fox News Digital to scope retired to the GDI and claimed nary cognition of the situation.
The Taliban person long sought the release of Guantanamo Bay detainee and al Qaeda facilitator Muhammad Rahim successful speech for the Americans they admitted were successful their prisons. Ahmad Habibi told CBS News President Biden assured him successful a Jan. 12 telephone telephone that the U.S. would not merchandise Rahim unless the Taliban released Habibi.
Former Principal Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Hugh Dugan told Fox News Digital the Trump medication could prosecute aggregate "lines of effort" to unafraid the release of Glezmann and Habibi.
Dugan said this could impact "outright rescue by the military" astatine 1 level oregon continued "subtle diplomacy successful the background."
Dugan said helium recognized that "to accidental we're doing everything we tin … is not satisfying to a household member, frankly, oregon anybody, and they privation to perceive that you're continuing to place what mightiness person eluded america each along, oregon that there's a ace successful the skyline that's opening.
"And we request to recognize that that mightiness beryllium different measurement successful our way to betterment and a enactment of effort has to beryllium amended to accommodate caller realities astatine immoderate fixed moment."
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