American engineer Mark Frerichs, kidnapped two years ago, has been released as part of a swap for Bishr Nurzai, a senior Taliban official
The Taliban released the American engineer Mark Frerichs, kidnapped two years ago in Afghanistan, within the framework of a prisoner exchange that has led the American giant to release Bishr Nurzai, a senior member of the fundamentalist group – considered a figure close to the founder of the Taliban, Mullah Mohamad Omar -, as announced on Monday by the Afghan Foreign Minister, Amir Jan Muttaqi.
Frerichs was handed over to the US authorities at the Kabul airport, said Muttaqi, who stressed that “force, war and coercion never give results”, while “talks and negotiations will solve all issues”. An affirmation that, in his opinion, was demonstrated by the historic Doha agreements, signed between the US and Afghanistan in 2020.
The American prisoner, a Navy veteran, was kidnapped in late January 2020 while working as a construction contractor on Afghan soil. His sister, Charlene Cakora, applauded the release. “There were some who protested against the deal that has brought Mark home, but President Biden did the right thing. He saved the life of an innocent veteran,” he alleged.
bilateral relations
Nurzai, for his part, stressed that the prisoner swap will help improve bilateral relations and called on the international community to hold talks with Afghanistan. The senior Taliban official has spent seventeen years in prison after being convicted of drug trafficking. His lawyer demanded that the charges filed against him in the United States be dropped after arguing that he was deceived with the promise that he would not be arrested.
The US president had already demanded in January the release of the veteran. “He was a civil engineer and spent a decade helping the people of Afghanistan. He has not done anything wrong and even so he has been held by the Taliban for two years, “said the president.
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