The engineer had been imprisoned for two long years. US President Joe Biden confirmed on Monday the release of the American Mark Frerichs by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“The success of the negotiations leading to Mark’s release required difficult decisions that I did not take lightly,” the US President said in a statement.
Mercy granted to Bashar Noorzai
“After lengthy negotiations, American citizen Mark Frerichs was handed over to an American delegation and that delegation to us [Bashar Noorzaï] today at Kabul Airport,” said Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at a press conference in the capital.
The US President did not specify what decisions he would have to make, but a senior US official cited, on condition of anonymity, the pardon given to Bashar Noorzaï, who was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States in 2009.
The “legitimacy” of the Taliban government
Former US Marine Mark Frerichs was working as a civil engineer on construction projects in Afghanistan when he was taken hostage, according to the US State Department. He was in “stable” health in Doha on Monday, the senior US official said.
On Jan. 31, Joe Biden called on the Taliban to release Mark Frerichs “immediately before we can hope for their legitimation efforts to be considered.” “It’s non-negotiable,” he insisted on the new Afghan government, which is not recognized by any country in the world.
A “global drug network”
Released Afghan prisoner Bashar Noorzai held no official position with the Taliban, government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. Nonetheless, during the rise of the Islamist movement in the 1990s, he “provided significant support, including with arms,” he added.
A close associate of the late Mullah Omar, the mythical founder of the Taliban, Bashar Noorzai fought with US-backed mujahideen forces against Soviet occupation. During his trial, US prosecutors said he ran a “global drug network” and supported the first Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001.