Families of Americans held by Taliban plead with Biden to ‘do the right thing’
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Taliban say it is negotiating with US to swap three Americans for a former aide to Osama bin Laden. Families of American hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan have asked Joe Biden “to do the right thing” and bring the men home before he leaves office, after months of lobbying the outgoing president to broker a deal with the hardline Islamist regime.
Three US citizens – George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Mahmood Shah Habibi – are believed to have been in the Taliban’s custody since 2022. The Taliban has confirmed it is holding two of the men but consistently denied detaining Mr Habibi. Mr Biden held a call with family members of all three American nationals on Sunday as his administration said it was working on a deal that could bring them home in exchange for Afghan national Muhammad Rahim, a Guantanamo Bay detainee and a close aide of the late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Mr Biden “emphasised his administration’s commitment to the cause of bringing home Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas”, the White House said. He told the families that his administration would not trade Mr Rahim, labelled a “high-value detainee” by the Department of Defence, unless the Taliban releases Mr Habibi, family members told The Independent. Mr Rahim has been held at Guantanamo since 2008.
