Rubio demands answers along with other Americans said to be held by the Taliban

In the final hours of his term, President Joe Biden negotiated a prisoner exchange with the Taliban, resulting in the release of US citizens Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McEntee from Taliban custody.

But there were no American citizens in the deal George Glezman and Mahmoud Habibi.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that he “just heard” about the Taliban arresting additional Americans.

“If this is true, we will have to immediately offer a very large reward for information on their senior leaders, perhaps even larger than what we offered for the capture of bin Laden.” Rubio wrote.

The release of Americans in exchange for the release of a Taliban prisoner

Dennis Fitzpatrick, who is coordinating efforts outside the US government to free Glezman, claimed that Glezman “has never been a serious priority for the Biden White House.”

“President Biden “(Former National Security Advisor) Jake Sullivan decided to leave George Glezman in Kabul for no good reason,” Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. “We are confident that President Trump’s clear leadership will ensure George is released to his family.”

US citizens George Glezman (left) and Mahmoud Habibie were not included in the recent Biden administration deal that freed other Americans from the Taliban. (James Foley Foundation/Getty Images)

Fitzpatrick added that the 66-year-old Glezman is a “completely innocent man” who was a “hardworking aviation mechanic before he was wrongfully arrested. He does not deserve to be used as a pawn.”

Glezman has been detained since Dec. 5, 2022, when he was traveling to Afghanistan to “explore the country’s rich cultural landscape and history,” according to a July 2024 Senate resolution calling for his immediate release.

The decision states that Glezman’s mental and physical condition was deteriorating as a result of his detention in a nine-square-foot underground cell. He was only allowed to make limited calls to his family, and suffered “facial tumors, high blood pressure, severe malnutrition, and other medical conditions” as a result of his detention.

Former President Joe Biden in the White House (Anna Money Maker)

While the Taliban acknowledges holding Glezman, they insist they are not holding Mahmoud Habibi.

The Taliban rejects accusations of discrimination as “ridiculous”, despite women being banned from appearing in public places in Afghanistan

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks after being sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance in the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus on Tuesday, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Habibi’s brother, Ahmed, told Fox News Digital that the family “knows that my brother is still being held by the Taliban. I can’t share much about this because we don’t want to put him or others in danger. But anyone accepts this.” The Taliban’s hollow insinuations that they do not have it fall into the trap of their lies.

“We have many witnesses to his arrest by the (General Directorate of Intelligence). We have many witnesses who were detained with him at the General Directorate of Intelligence headquarters. The Taliban have always claimed that they do not have him and do not know who he is.” How do they explain the apparent contradictions in this?

Ahmed also claimed that the family “knows that the US government has technical evidence that Mahmoud was in the custody of the General Directorate of Investigations long after his arrest.”

Biden’s National Security Council allegedly “micromanaged the State Department’s efforts to secure my brother’s release” and “prevented (the State Department) from using the data in their discussions with the Taliban, even though we told them it would directly confront the Taliban.” “The Taliban claim they have never heard of my brother.”

Top general in the war against the Taliban says Afghanistan has once again become a “crucible for terrorism”

Neither the State Department nor the National Security Council responded to Fox News Digital’s requests to confirm Ahmed’s claims.

Fox News Digital also contacted Taliban spokespersons Zabihullah Mujahid and Suhail Shaheen regarding Habibi’s arrest and asked Mujahid what happened to Habibi after he was arrested by the General Directorate of Excavation. Mujahid did not respond. Shaheen directed Fox News Digital to contact GDI and claimed to be unaware of the situation.

The Taliban has He has long sought his release From the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and Al-Qaeda facilitator Muhammad Rahim in exchange for the Americans who admitted to being in their prisons. Ahmed Habibie told CBS News that President Biden assured him in a phone call on January 12 that the United States would not release Rahim unless the Taliban released Habibie.

Taliban fighters in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP Photo/Ibrahim Norouzi)

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Former principal deputy special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Hugh Duggan, told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration could pursue multiple “lines of effort.” To secure the release Glezman and my love.

This could include a “direct rescue by the military” at some level or continued “hidden diplomacy in the background,” Dogan said.

Duggan said he realized that “saying we’re doing everything we can… that there’s a crack on the horizon opening up.

“We need to realize that this may be another step on our path to recovery and the line of effort must be adjusted to accommodate new realities at any moment.”