The Biden administration remains in negotiations with the Taliban for the exchange of three American citizens being held in Afghanistan for at least one alleged Osama bin Laden associate who has been held in the Guantánamo Bay prison since 2008.
The deal has been under discussion since at least July, reported The Wall Street Journal.
On Nov. 14, the administration told the Taliban that it would release Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, an alleged senior al-Qaida aide, in exchange for American citizens George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett, and Mahmoud Habibi, who were captured in Afghanistan in 2022.
The Taliban denies that it is holding Habibi but made a counteroffer in November to exchange Glezmann and Corbett for Rahim and two other prisoners.
Jake Sullivan, national security adviser, told House Foreign Affairs Committee members on Dec. 17 in a classified session that Biden had not made a decision.
The panel chair, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said the exchange was not a good deal, according to a source attending the session. McCaul's office declined to comment, citing a classified conversation.
Biden administration top hostage negotiator Roger Carstens recently traveled to Doha, Qatar, where he spoke with Taliban representatives, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Rahim has long been seen as a high-profile prisoner, and Biden could face more political fallout over Afghanistan by releasing one or more Afghan prisoners, considering the flawed withdrawal of U.S. troops from the nation.
But even with just weeks left before Biden leaves office, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett insisted in a statement that the safety of Americans overseas is "one of the Biden-Harris administration's top priorities, and we are working around the clock to ensure George, Ryan, and Mahmoud's safe return."
Incoming President-elect Donald Trump has denounced deals Biden has reached with other countries on prisoners for years.
Trump transition spokesman Brian Hughes said the president-elect, though, remains "committed to securing the release of all American hostages who have been wrongfully detained. Things will only get worse for any hostage-taker once President Trump assumes office."
The detained Americans' families have spoken out often over the wait for an exchange, questioning Biden's commitment.
Aleksandra Glezmann, George Glezmann's wife, said in a Dec. 15 email to senior U.S. officials, including Sullivan and Carstens, that her husband thinks trips to Washington to argue his case "are just a waste of life because his government doesn't care anyway and that he will likely rot in jail and never come home alive."
The family has said it is open to negotiating directly with the Taliban rather than relying on the administration and State Department.
Anna Corbett, Ryan Corbett's wife, said Biden is running out of time "to show these are more than empty words for families like mine that are not famous or well connected. … I haven't even been able to get a meeting with him despite 16 trips to D.C. to fight for Ryan's release, so it's hard to continue to have faith that he will use his power to bring my husband home."
Glezmann, a Delta Air Lines mechanic, was taken by the Taliban when he was touring Afghanistan in December 2022.
Corbett was taken earlier that year while traveling with a German colleague about 300 miles from Kabul.
Habibi disappeared in 2022 after the U.S. killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul. The FBI has said it thinks the Afghan military or security forces seized him.
Glezmann and Corbett were designated by the U.S. government as being wrongfully detained, while Habibi was not.
Rahim, meanwhile, denies he was a close associate of bin Laden, saying he was a linguist in Afghanistan.
James Connell, a lawyer who represents Rahim, said that the U.S. charges against Rahim are "largely exaggerated. In the 17 years since, no evidence has been forthcoming."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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