Taliban release an American man who was abducted while traveling in
Afghanistan
[March 21, 2025]
By ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — An American man who was abducted more than two years
ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist has been released
by the Taliban in a deal with the Trump administration that Qatari
negotiators helped broker, the State Department said Thursday.
George Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, is the third American
detainee to be released by the Taliban since January. He was seized by
the Taliban's intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated
by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained the following year.
In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Glezmann was on his
way back to the United States to be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra,
and praised Qatar for “steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts” that
he said were “instrumental in securing George’s release.”
“George’s release is a positive and constructive step," Rubio said. “It
is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in
Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL
Americans unjustly detained around the world.”
Glezmann was being accompanied back to the U.S., through Qatar's
capital, Doha, by Adam Boehler, who has been handling hostage issues for
President Donald Trump's administration. The Taliban disclosed earlier
Thursday that Boehler had met with a delegation that included Afghan
Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Glezmann, 66, was in Afghanistan as a tourist at the time of his
abduction and has visited more than 100 countries as part of his passion
for exploring different cultures, according to a profile on the website
of the Foley Foundation, an organization that advocates for the release
of Americans detained by foreign countries.
The release of Glezmann is part of what the Taliban has previously
described as the “normalization" of ties between the U.S. and
Afghanistan following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in
2021. Most countries still don’t recognize the Taliban’s rule.
Glezmann's release follows a separate deal, arranged in January in the
final days of the Biden administration and also mediated by the Qataris,
that secured the releases of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty.
The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry in Kabul said at the time that those two
U.S. citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was sentenced to
two life terms in 2008 after being convicted under U.S. narco-terrorism
laws for securing heroin and opium that he knew was bound for the U.S.
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In this handout photo released by Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
George Glezmann, center, poses with Adam Boehler, second left, and
Zalmay Khalilzad, second right, and Qatari diplomats in Kabul,
Afghanistan, Thursday, March 20, 2025, before departing to Doha,
Qatar. (Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs via AP)
Unlike in that arrangement, the U.S. did not give up any prisoner to
secure Glezmann’s release, which was done as a goodwill gesture,
according to an official briefed on the matter who insisted on
anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.
On Thursday, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed Glezmann's
release on “humanitarian grounds." In a statement, it said the
“Islamic Emirate again reaffirms its longstanding position that
dialogue, understanding and diplomacy provide effective avenues for
resolving all issues.”
President Joe Biden contemplated before he left office an earlier
proposal that would have involved the release of Glezmann and other
Americans for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But Biden told families during a call in January that he would not
support trading Rahim unless the Taliban released Mahmood Habibi, an
Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a
Kabul-based telecommunications company and vanished in 2022.
The FBI and Habibi's family have said they believe Habibi was taken
by Taliban forces, but the Taliban has denied holding him.
Representatives for Habibi on Thursday cited what they said was
“overwhelming evidence” that he was arrested by the Taliban after
his home was searched by people identifying themselves as part of
the Taliban's security service.
"We are confident that the Trump Administration will hold firm that
my brother needs to be released for relations with the U.S. to move
forward," one of Habibi’s brothers, Ahmad, said in a statement. “We
have reason to be confident Mahmood is alive and in Taliban custody,
despite their hollow denials of holding him. My brother is an
innocent man who has been held away from his wife, young daughter,
and elderly parents for 953 days.”
___
Associated Press writers Victoria Eastwood in Cairo and Munir Ahmed
in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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