President Joe Biden negotiated a prisoner swap with the Taliban in his final hours in office, releasing American citizens Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McEntee from Taliban custody.
However, the agreement did not include U.S. citizens George Glezman and Mahmoud Habibi.
On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that he was “just hearing” about additional American detentions by the Taliban.
“If this were true, we would have to immediately put very large bounties on their leaders, perhaps even more than what we put on bin Laden,” Rubio wrote. Ta.
Two Americans released in exchange for Taliban prisoners
Dennis Fitzpatrick, who is coordinating efforts outside the U.S. government to free Glezman, insisted that Glezman “was never a serious priority for President Biden.”
“President Biden and (former national security adviser) Jake Sullivan decided to keep George Glezman in Kabul for no good reason,” Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. . “We are confident that President Trump’s clear leadership will ensure George’s release to his family.”
The two Americans, George Glezman (left) and Mahmoud Habibi, were not included in the Biden administration’s recent agreement to release two other Americans from the Taliban. (James Foley Foundation/Getty Images)
Fitzpatrick said Glezman, 66, was a “totally innocent man” and “prior to his wrongful detention, he was a hard-working, blue-collar aircraft mechanic. He does not deserve to be used as a pawn.” added.
Glezman has been detained since December 5, 2022, while traveling to Afghanistan to “explore the country’s cultural landscape and rich history,” pursuant to a July 2024 Senate resolution calling for his immediate release. .
The resolution states that Glezman’s mental and physical condition had deteriorated as a result of being held in a nine-foot-by-9-foot underground cell. He was only allowed limited calls to his family and suffered from “facial tumors, high blood pressure, severe malnutrition, and other medical conditions” as a result of his detention.
Former President Joe Biden at the White House (Anna Moneymaker)
The Taliban have acknowledged holding Glezman, but say they are not holding Mahmoud Habibi.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance on Tuesday in the Vice Presidential Ceremony Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Habibi’s brother Ahmad told Fox News Digital: “My family knows that my brother is still in Taliban custody. We don’t talk about it much because we don’t want to put him or others at risk. “But anyone can accept it.” The Taliban’s empty suggestion that they don’t have him is fooling their lies.
“We have multiple witnesses to his arrest by the (General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI)). We have multiple witnesses who were detained with him at the GDI headquarters. The Taliban did not capture him at all times. How does he explain this apparent contradiction? ”
Mr. Ahmad also claimed that his family “knows that the U.S. government has technical evidence that Mr. Mahmoud remained in GDI custody long after his arrest.”
He said the Biden National Security Council “micromanaged the State Department’s efforts to secure his brother’s release” and that “[the State Department]did not engage with the Taliban even though we told them we would confront them directly.” “We have prevented the data from being used for consultations.” The Taliban claim they haven’t heard about my brother. ”
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Neither the State Department nor the National Security Council responded to Fox News Digital’s requests to confirm Ahmad’s claims.
Fox News Digital also contacted Taliban spokesmen Zabihullah Mujahid and Suhail Shaheen about Habibi’s arrest and asked Mujahid what happened to Habibi after he was arrested by the GDI. President Mujahid did not respond. Shaheen told Fox News Digital to contact GDI, but claimed he had no knowledge of the situation.
The Taliban have long sought the release of Muhammad Rahim, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee and al-Qaida facilitator, in exchange for an American he admits is in prison. Ahmad Habibi told CBS News that President Biden assured him in a Jan. 12 phone call that the United States would not release Rahim unless the Taliban released Habibi.
Taliban fighters in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP Photo/Ebrahim Norouzi)
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Hugh Dugan, the former deputy chief of staff and special envoy for hostage affairs, told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration could pursue multiple “lines of effort” to secure the release of Glezman and Habibie. Ta.
Dugan said this could include a “full military rescue” at some level, or a continuation of “subtle diplomacy behind the scenes.”
Dugan said, “To say we’re doing the best we can…frankly, it’s not satisfying for the family or anyone, and it’s something we may have missed all along.” We want to hear what you continue to identify.” That there is a crack on the horizon.
“And we need to recognize that it could be another step on the road to recovery, and that we may need to adjust our approach to accommodate new realities at any time.”
