Taliban releases American man after two years in detention
George Glezmann, an American airline mechanic who had been detained in Afghanistan for over two years, has been freed by the Taliban in what they described as a “humanitarian” gesture.
File Source: ABC
George Glezmann, an American airline mechanic who had been detained in Afghanistan for over two years, has been freed by the Taliban in what they described as a “humanitarian” gesture. Glezmann, who was arrested in December 2022 while visiting the country as a tourist, arrived in Qatar on Thursday evening before traveling back to the United States.
His release followed a high-level meeting in Kabul between the Taliban government’s foreign minister and a US delegation led by hostage envoy Adam Boehler. It marked the highest-level direct talks between the two sides since President Donald Trump took office in January. “This is a positive and constructive step,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while Qatar, which facilitated the deal, played a key role in the negotiations.
The Afghan foreign ministry framed Glezmann’s release as a “goodwill gesture” and emphasized Afghanistan’s “readiness to genuinely engage all sides, particularly the United States of America, on the basis of mutual respect and interests.” Contact between the US and Taliban governments has typically occurred in other countries since the Taliban took power in 2021, making the Kabul meeting particularly significant.
Boehler was joined in the discussions by former US envoy to Kabul Zalmay Khalilzad. Glezmann was later seen at Kabul airport before boarding a flight to Qatar, accompanied by Boehler, Khalilzad, and Qatari officials. Rubio said the 65-year-old Delta Air Lines mechanic would soon be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra, and thanked Qatar for its “instrumental” role in securing his release.
The James Foley Foundation, which advocates for Americans detained overseas, revealed that Glezmann had only “periodic and limited telephone contact” with his wife while imprisoned. His health had “deteriorated significantly while he had been in detention,” and he required “immediate medical care.”
Rubio also used the moment to highlight that “other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan,” including Mahmood Habibi, who was arrested in August 2022.
Before Trump’s inauguration, the US and Taliban had previously struck a deal to release two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty, in exchange for an Afghan prisoner held in the United States. The Afghan, Khan Mohmmad, had been serving a life sentence in a California federal prison on drug trafficking and terrorism charges.
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