WASHINGTON -
The American magazine Newsweek highlighted the hopes of Taliban leader Anas Haqqani that the ongoing negotiations for the release of the last American hostage in Afghanistan, 59-year-old engineer Mark Frerich, who has been detained by the movement since February 2020, will succeed.
The Haqqani Network, a Taliban-aligned militia, is believed to be behind the kidnapping of Frerich, and the US State Department has designated the network a terrorist organization for more than a decade.
Frerich, who is a manager of a logistics support company for projects inside Afghanistan, was kidnapped during a working visit to Khost province, and that was not his only visit to Afghanistan, where he has visited several times since 2012.
Prior to his current job, Freirich served for years in the US Navy before retiring years ago.
After reporting on February 1, 2020, about his disappearance and possible kidnapping, US intelligence officials tracked Frerich's mobile phone and raided a village near where he was about a week after his disappearance in Khost.
Although they arrested a number of the people of that village, Frerich was not found, and the attempt to trace him was unsuccessful.
Taliban fighters have taken control of the entire country (European)
Calls and swaps
Charlene, the sister of Mark Frerich, appealed to the head of the Haqqani Network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and called on US President Joe Biden to intervene.
Before that, Charlene wondered why "the US government signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in early February 2020 that does not include a clause for the release of her brother."
For his part, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a statement saying that there is a cell working to ensure Frerich's safe return to the country.
The FBI also allocated a reward of one million dollars for information leading to the release or rescue of Frerich.
In addition, Rewards for Justice offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Friedrich's whereabouts.
News reports indicated that the Taliban wanted to exchange Frerich for Mr. Bashir Noorzai, an Afghan tribal leader who was arrested for heroin trafficking in New York in April 2005 and is currently in a federal prison in New Hampshire.
Discussions and hopes
"We are keen to explore ways to bring Frerich back," a US government official, who requested anonymity, told Newsweek last week, but it was based on the need to receive recent evidence that he was still alive.
In statements sent to Newsweek magazine, senior Taliban official Anas Haqqani expressed his hope that discussions between his group and the United States about the last known American hostage in Afghanistan would witness a positive result.
Haqqani did not say whether the Taliban were willing to provide evidence that Frerich was still alive when asked by Newsweek.
Blinken: The return of the missing American may be a key to positive future relations between the United States and the Taliban (French)
Enter and switches
At a time when the Taliban are seeking international recognition of their rule, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken indicated that the return of the missing American may be a key to positive future relations between the United States and the Taliban.
None of the countries in the world has yet recognized the Taliban, although it has continued extensive contacts with many countries such as China, Russia, India and Pakistan, and even other Western countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
The White House also threw its weight, stressing that discussions are underway between US and Taliban officials regarding Freirich.
In a speech on July 8, President Biden mentioned Frerich for the first and only time, and said, "We will continue to work for the release of detained Americans, including Marc Frerich, so that he can return to his family safely."
"Mark Frerich's case is an issue that has been repeatedly raised by our State Department officials," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
She added that the State Department was working closely with both the US envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the official in charge of hostage affairs, Roger Carstens.
She explained that they "continued to pressure the Taliban to release him." Psaki said Frerich's case was "of great importance to President Joe Biden."