US in negotiations with the Taliban to exchange Americans in Afghanistan for prisoners in Guantánamo

The Biden administration has reportedly been negotiating with the Taliban to exchange three Americans detained in Afghanistan for one Guantánamo Bay prisoner who is alleged to have been a close associate of Usama bin Laden.

The talks, which have been ongoing since at least July last year, involve swapping alleged al Qaeda aide Muhammad Rahim al Afghani for US citizens George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Mahmoud Habibi, who were arrested in Afghanistan in 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported for the first time. A White House official confirmed the report to Fox News.

After the White House proposed such a swap in November, the Taliban counteroffered, asking for Rahim and two others in exchange for Glezmann and Corbett, the newspaper reported.

Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee told the newspaper that they were later told by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during a classified session on December 17, 2024 that Biden was still mulling the offer. One attendee added that during the meeting, the panel’s chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, expressed concern that the Taliban’s counteroffer was not a good deal for the US.

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“The safety and security of Americans abroad is one of the top priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration, and we are working around the clock to ensure the safe return of George, Ryan and Mahmood,” he said. a spokesman for the National Security Council told Fox News on Tuesday.

“Over the past four years, President Biden has brought home more than 75 Americans wrongfully detained around the world, including Afghanistan, Burma, Gaza, Haiti, Iran, Russia, Rwanda and Venezuela,” they added. “President Biden and his team continue to work, often in collaboration with key allies, to negotiate the release of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas so they can be reunited with their families, and the Administration will do so for the rest of the term.”

Glezmann and Corbett have been declared by the State Department to be wrongfully detained, while the Taliban deny having Habibi, the newspaper said.

Corbett, a consultant, was captured in the summer of 2022 while traveling with a German colleague about 300 miles northwest of Kabul. Glezmann, a mechanic for Delta Air Lines, was detained by the Taliban in December while on a tour of the country, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Habibi disappeared the same year after the US killing of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul, with the FBI suspecting he was held by the Afghan military or security forces, it added.

“My family is confident that Mahmoud is alive and remains in the joint custody of the Taliban and the Haqqani network,” Ahmad Habibi, Mahmoud Habibi’s brother, told The Wall Street Journal. “We have a lot of evidence. If the Taliban want Rahim, freeing my brother is the best option to get him.”

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The families of the detained Americans, who say that Glezmann and Corbett are in health problems; they have reportedly been advocating for two years Biden administration to help secure his release.

“I want to take seriously the president’s promise that returning wrongfully detained Americans is a priority, but time is running out to show that these are more than empty words for families like mine who are neither famous nor well-connected. ” said Anna Corbett. Ryan Corbett’s wife said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.

“After all, I haven’t even been able to get a meeting with him despite 16 trips to DC to fight for Ryan’s release, so it’s hard to continue to have faith that he will use his power to bring mine husband at home,” she said. added

The newspaper reported that the Taliban have long demanded the release of Rahim, who has been held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since 2008.

At the time of his transfer there, the Defense Department alleged that Rahim was a close associate of bin Laden, he added.

Then, in November 2023, the Guantánamo prison review board cited Rahim’s work for members of Al Qaeda and his involvement in attacks against US and allied forces in Afghanistan as reasons to keep him in custody, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Rahim wrote a letter that year to the board describing himself as older and in poor health, while adding that if released he would like to pursue his love of cooking and possibly open a food truck or a cabin

“I am sure that the United States does not fear that it will return to a battlefield that no longer exists,” said the Wall Street Journal.

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The developments come as the Biden administration announced Monday the transfer of 11 Yemeni detainees, including two former bin Laden bodyguards, held at a US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Oman, which has accepted help resettle them. amid measures to reduce the population at the controversial military installation.

Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Patrick Ward contributed to this report.