The U.S. has reportedly launched prisoner-swap talks with the Taliban to bring home Americans held in Afghanistan for a terror suspect believed to have been an associate of the former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
Muhammad Rahim al Afghani has been held without charge or trial at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp since 2008.
In November, the Biden administration told the Taliban it would release him if Afghan’s rulers freed George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett, and Mahmoud Habibi, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The three were seized in 2022.
The Taliban quickly made a counteroffer, saying they wanted Rahim and two other prisoners in exchange for Glezmann and Corbett. They deny holding Habibi, who once worked for the ousted Afghan government but was working for a private company when the Taliban swept to power in 2021.
The negotiations illustrate the dilemma facing Washington and other foreign government: Negotiate with a pariah state or leave nationals languishing in Afghan detention.
Biden has not made a decision on the Taliban proposal, according to attendees of a classified meeting of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was briefed by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
The panel’s chair, Rep. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), reportedly warned against the deal.
Muhammad Rahim al Afghani has been held without charge or trial for 19 years and is currently detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp
George Glezmann, a 65-year-old airline mechanic from Georgia, was detained in 2022 while visiting Afghanistan as a tourist
Rahim is the last Afghan held at Guantanamo Bay, and is often described as a ‘forever prisoner’ after multiple review boards declined to recommend him for release.
Pakistani media reported that he was captured in the city of Lahore in 2007, before being turned over to the U.S.
He was described as one of bin Laden’s most trusted aides and a procurement specialist, claims he has always denied.
‘He had advance knowledge of many of al-Qaeda’s major attacks, including advanced knowledge of 9/l I, and progressed to paying for, planning, and participating in attacks in Afghanistan against US and Coalition targets by al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and other anti-Coalition militant groups,’ is how his Guantanamo Detainee Profile, produced by the Periodic Review Secretariat, puts it.
His release may be particularly damaging to Washington.
He was the last detainee to go through the the CIA’s ‘Rendition, Detention and Interrogation’ program that included sleep deprivation and other treatments later defined as torture.
His release would present fresh political trouble for a president whose foreign policy chops took a battering after the disastrous 2021 withdrawal.
Sean Savett, a National Security Council spokesman, said: ‘The safety and security of Americans overseas is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities, and we are working around the clock to ensure George, Ryan and Mahmoud’s safe return.’
Ryan Corbett, a 40-year-old father of three, who ran NGOs in Afghanistan, had returned to the country in 2022 to pay and train staff when he was snatched. Seen here with his wife Anna
Mahmoud Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman, was taken while working for the Asia Consultancy Group, a Kabul-based telecommunications company
Glezmann, a 65-year-old airline mechanic from Georgia, was detained in 2022 while visiting as a tourist.
Corbett, a 40-year-old father of three, who ran NGOs in Afghanistan, had returned to the country in 2022 to pay and train staff when he was snatched.
Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman, was taken in a separate incident. At the time he was working for the Asia Consultancy Group, a Kabul-based telecommunications company.
A Trump transition spokesman said the incoming president was committed to securing the release of all American hostages.
‘Things will only get worse for any hostage taker once President Trump assumes office,’ said Brian Hughes.
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