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US, Afghanistan in talks to swap detainees, WSJ reports
In August last year, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said that they will release the prisoners in exchange for Afghans held by the United States.
The Biden administration is negotiating with Afghanistan to exchange Americans detained in the country for at least one high-profile prisoner held in Guantanamo Bay with alleged ties to former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Representatives of the White House and the U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
Representatives for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) also did not immediately respond, WSJ reported.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s administration is seeking the return of three Americans arrested in 2022 – Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi – in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, the WSJ reported.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters that the Biden administration has been negotiating with the IEA since at least July last year on a US proposal to exchange Corbett, Glezmann and Habibi for Rahim.
The IEA, who deny holding Habibi, countered with an offer to exchange Glezmann and Corbett for Rahim and two others, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In August last year, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, said that they will release the prisoners in exchange for Afghans held by the United States.
“Two Americans who were found guilty in Afghanistan for violating Afghan laws are in prison. They are here. But if they want the release of the prisoners, we also have our own Afghans who are in American prisons and should be released.
“We don’t have anyone named Habibi in our prisons. But investigation is ongoing to find out what happened in this regard,” Mujahid said.
A spokesperson for the National Security Council said they could not confirm the WSJ story, but added that the administration was “working around the clock” to secure the release of the three Americans.
Rahim’s lawyer, James Connell, told Reuters that neither the Biden administration nor the IEA had informed him or Rahim of the negotiations.