President Joe Biden is currently in negotiations with the Taliban in an effort to bring home several Americans who have been detained in Afghanistan for years, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Biden’s administration has been in talks with the Taliban about an agreement since at least July, and proposed in November that the group release three Americans — George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Mahmoud Habibi — in exchange for Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, an Afghan who the U.S. government claims was a high-ranking al Qaeda aide, sources told the WSJ. Gelzmann, Corbett and Habibi have been held in Afghanistan since 2022, though the Taliban deny holding Habibi, the outlet reported. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Blood Is On Their Hands’: Abbey Gate Survivor Describes Coming Face To Face With Joe Biden)
“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 Mahmood’s safe return,” a White House National Security Council spokesperson told the Caller, adding that they could not confirm the WSJ report.
“Over the last four years, President Biden has brought home over 75 Americans unjustly detained around the world, including Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Rwanda and Venezuela. President Biden and his team continue to work, often in partnership with key allies, to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage or unjustly detained abroad so that they can be reunited with their families, and the Administration will do so throughout the remainder of the term,” the spokesperson continued.
After the Biden administration’s initial November offer, the Taliban made a counter the same day, the WSJ reported. The group proposed receiving Rahim and two others for Glezmann and Corbett.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in December that the president, however, has not decided on the proposal, attendees told the WSJ. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Wrote Her Off’: Mother Of Abbey Gate Survivor Details Being Ghosted By Jill Biden During Son’s Recovery)
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan speaks speaks to reporters during the daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room on the White House Complex on Monday, July 11, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Mahmoud Habibi is another U.S. citizen, who was in Afghanistan for business and captured by the Taliban, according to the Foley Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing American hostages home.
Corbett, a U.S. citizen from upstate New York, previously lived in Afghanistan with his family from 2010 to 2021, according to a website dedicated to bringing him home. In Afghanistan, Corbett was running local NGOs before starting a microloan and consulting business in the country. He returned to Afghanistan in January 2022 to get his business visa renewed and to see to his staff. He visited again in August 2022 and was captured by the Taliban, the website writes.
“I want to take seriously the president’s pledge that returning wrongfully detained Americans is a top priority, but he is running out of time to show these are more than empty words for families like mine that are not famous or well connected,” Anna Corbett, Ryan’s wife, said of the WSJ report to the outlet. “After all, I haven’t even been able to get a meeting with him despite 16 trips to D.C. to fight for Ryan’s release, so it’s hard to continue to have faith that he will use his power to bring my husband home.”
U.S. President Joe Biden departs after speaking about the situation in Afghanistan in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on August 24, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden discussed the ongoing evacuations in Afghanistan, saying the U.S. has evacuated over 70,000 people from the country. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Glezmann, a 65-year-old citizen, was visiting Afghanistan as a tourist in December 2022 when he was captured by the Taliban, according to the Foley Foundation.
Aleksandra Glezmann, George Glezmann’s wife, told U.S. officials that her husband believes trips to the nation’s capital “are just a waste of life because his government doesn’t care anyway, and that he will likely rot in jail and never come home alive,” according to a December email obtained by the WSJ.
“My family is confident that Mahmoud is alive and remains in the joint custody of the Taliban and the Haqqani network,” Ahmad Habibi, a brother of Mahmoud Habibi, told the WSJ. “We have a lot of evidence. If the Taliban wants Rahim, releasing my brother is their best shot at getting him.”