WASHINGTON:
The Biden administration is negotiating with Afghanistan to trade People detained within the nation for at the least one high-profile prisoner held in Guantanamo Bay with alleged ties to former al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the Wall Road Journal reported on Tuesday.
Representatives of the White Home and the US State Division didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon the report. Representatives for the Afghan Taliban additionally didn’t instantly reply.
US President Joe Biden’s administration is looking for the return of three People seized in 2022 – Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi – in trade for Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, the WSJ reported.
A supply aware of the matter confirmed to Reuters that the Biden administration has been negotiating with the Taliban since at the least July on a US proposal to trade Corbett, Glezmann and Habibi for Rahim. The Taliban, who deny holding Habibi, countered with a proposal to trade Glezmann and Corbett for Rahim and two others, stated the supply, who spoke on situation of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the difficulty.
Corbett and Habibi have been detained in separate incidents in August 2022 a 12 months after the Taliban seized Kabul amid the chaotic US troop withdrawal. Glezmann was detained later in 2022 whereas visiting as a vacationer.
A spokesperson for the Nationwide Safety Council stated they may not affirm the WSJ story, however added that the administration was “working across the clock” to safe the discharge of the three People.
Rahim’s lawyer, James Connell, advised Reuters that neither the Biden administration nor the Taliban had knowledgeable him or Rahim of the negotiations. “It does appear vital to incorporate Rahim or his consultant within the dialog,” stated Connell. “Because it occurs, he’s prepared to be traded or exchanged.”
Rahim was “the final particular person introduced into the CIA torture program,” stated Connell, referring to an company program instituted after the Sept 11, 2001, al Qaeda assaults that used harsh interrogation strategies on suspected militants. The CIA denies the strategies amounted to torture.
The US-Taliban talks have been in movement since July, in accordance with the WSJ, which cited sources who attended a categorised Home International Affairs Committee briefing final month with White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan