Taliban Frees American As "Goodwill Gesture" To President Trump

The Trump White House has continued moving fast on gaining the release of imprisoned Americans from rival or enemy states throughout the world. 

On Thursday an American who had been imprisoned for more than two years by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released. The release, mediated by Qatar, was confirmed in a statement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Today, after two and a half years of captivity in Afghanistan, Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann is on his way to be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra," Rubio said in the statement.

The 66-year old American was abducted by the Taliban as he traveled through Afghanistan in December 2022. The US government declared him to be wrongfully detained the following year.

Zalmay Khalilzad, a top US envoy to Afghanistan, described that the he Taliban government agreed to free him as a "goodwill gesture" to President Trump and the American people.

Glezmann is the third American to be released from Taliban custody this year, after Ryan Corbett and William McKenty were freed earlier this year in exchange for a detained Taliban member in US custody.

Khalilzad hailed that Trump has "made the freedom and homecoming of Americans held abroad a high priority. It is an honor to assist in this important effort."

According to the circumstances of Glezmann's trip and capture:

He had traveled to Afghanistan for a five-day trip "to explore the cultural landscape and rich history of the country," according to US Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who campaigned for Glezmann’s release.

The two lawmakers said last July that Glezmann was held in "a nine-foot by nine-foot cell with other detainees and has been held in solitary confinement and underground for months at a time."

In the period up to July 2024, Glezmann had not been granted any consular visits by US officials and had "only seven phone calls totaling 54 minutes with his family," the senators said.

He had set out on his journey a mere 16 months after the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan. The US State Department has long had a "Level 4: Do Not Travel" advisory on its webpage, describing that the risk of detention is very high.

"Do not travel to Afghanistan due to civil unrest, crime, terrorism, risk of wrongful detention, kidnapping, and limited health facilities," the alert says. Some swathes of the central Asian, war-torn country, actually remain essentially lawless - sometimes ruled by various competing tribes and Taliban-connected warlords.