Kuwait frees a group of jailed Americans, including contractors held on
drug charges
[March 13, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER and JON GAMBRELL
WASHINGTON (AP) — Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners,
including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on
drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between
two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press
on Wednesday.
The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the
Trump administration's top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued
U.S. government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign
countries.
Six of the newly freed prisoners were accompanied on a flight from
Kuwait to New York by Jonathan Franks, a private consultant who works on
cases involving American hostages and detainees and who had been in the
country to help secure their release.
“My clients and their families are grateful to the Kuwaiti government
for this kind humanitarian gesture,” Franks said in a statement.
He said that his clients maintain their innocence and that additional
Americans he represents also are expected to be released by Kuwait
later.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for
comment. The names of the released prisoners were not immediately made
public.
Kuwait did not acknowledge the release on its state-run KUNA news agency
and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The holy
Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and its upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday
typically see prisoner releases across Muslim-majority nations.
Kuwait, a small, oil-rich nation that borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and
is near Iran, is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as
recently as last month, when he said the U.S. “remains steadfast in its
support for Kuwait’s sovereignty and the well-being of its people.”
The countries have had a close military partnership since America
launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein invaded the country, with some 13,500 American troops
stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base.
But Kuwait has also detained many American military contractors on drug
charges, in some cases, for years. Their families have alleged that
their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans
alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs.
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One of the six American prisoners flown from Kuwait to New York on
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, right, is escorted by a Customs and
Border Protection agent out of Terminal 7 at John F. Kennedy
International Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Others have criticized Kuwaiti police for bringing trumped-up
charges and manufacturing evidence used against them — allegations
never acknowledged by the autocratic nation ruled by a hereditary
emir.
The State Department warns travelers that drug charges in Kuwait can
carry long prison sentences and the death penalty. Defense
cooperation agreements between the U.S. and Kuwait likely include
provisions that ensure U.S. troops are subject only to American
laws, though that likely doesn’t include contractors.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his
Republican administration has secured the release of American
schoolteacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has
announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned U.S. citizen.
The Americans released Wednesday had not been designated by the U.S.
government as wrongfully detained. The status is applied to a
subsection of Americans jailed abroad and historically ensures the
case is handled by the administration's special presidential envoy
for hostage affairs — the office that handles negotiations for a
release.
But advocates of those held in foreign countries are hopeful the
Trump administration takes a more flexible approach and secures the
release of those not deemed wrongfully detained.
“The sad reality is that these Americans were left in prison for
years due to a misguided policy that had, before President Trump
took office, effectively abandoned Americans abroad who hadn't been
designated wrongfully detained,” Franks said in a statement.
“These releases," he added, “demonstrate what is achievable when the
U.S. government prioritizes bringing Americans home.”
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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