Prisoner Swap: Taliban Releases Engineer, US Releases Afghan Tribal Chief

JAKARTA - The Afghan Taliban on Monday released American engineer Mark Frerichs in exchange for an Afghan tribal leader linked to the Taliban who has been imprisoned by the United States for drug smuggling since 2005, officials said.

Frerichs, an engineer kidnapped in 2020 while working in Afghanistan, was swapped at the airport in Kabul with Bashir Noorzai, acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi told a news conference in the Afghan capital.

"Afghanistan is ready to resolve the issue through negotiations with all, including the United States," Muttaqi said, referring to the Taliban.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said Frerichs' release was "the culmination of years of tireless work, by dedicated public servants throughout our government and other partner governments".

The Biden administration is known to be under pressure from families of Americans detained by hostile foreign governments, pledging to step up efforts for their release.

"Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark's release to a successful resolution required a difficult decision, which I did not take lightly," Biden said in a statement, without confirming Noorzai's release.

A senior US government official, who declined to be named, said President Biden had granted clemency to Noorzai, who has spent 17 years in US custody for heroin smuggling, a charge he denies.

Frerichs is an engineer and US Navy veteran from Lombard, Illinois, who worked in Afghanistan for a decade on building projects. He was kidnapped in February 2020.

It is understood Frerichs arrived in Doha by plane from Kabul at around 13:30 and is in good health, according to sources familiar with the situation. It was not immediately clear when he would arrive back in the United States.

Meanwhile, Noorzai was detained by the United States on suspicion of smuggling more than $50 million worth of heroin into the United States and Europe. A court in New York sentenced him to life in prison in 2009.

The tribal leader has longstanding ties to the Taliban. Noorzai's lawyers have denied his client was a drug dealer, arguing the charges should be dropped because US Government officials tricked him into believing he would not be arrested.

The United States has previously pushed for Frerichs' release, including after the hardline Taliban retook power in Afghanistan in August 2021, when US-led foreign troops were withdrawn. Government officials say it has become a "top priority" for President Biden.