• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Editor's Pick

Rubio demands answers with 2 more Americans reportedly held by Taliban

by January 26, 2025
written by January 26, 2025

In the final hours of his term, President Joe Biden negotiated a prisoner exchange with the Taliban that released U.S. citizens Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty from Taliban custody. 

Not included in the deal, however, were U.S. citizens George Glezmann and Mahmood Habibi.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X that he was ‘just hearing’ of the detentions of additional Americans by the Taliban. 

‘If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden,’ Rubio wrote.

Dennis Fitzpatrick, who is coordinating efforts outside the U.S. government for Glezmann’s release, claimed Glezmann was ‘never a serious priority for the Biden White House.’ 

‘President Biden and [former National Security Advisor] Jake Sullivan decided to leave George Glezmann in Kabul for no good reason,’ Fitzpatrick told Fox News Digital. ‘We are confident that President Trump’s clear-eyed leadership will secure George’s release to his family.’

Fitzpatrick added that 66-year-old Glezmann is ‘a totally innocent man’ who was ‘a hard-working, blue-collar airline mechanic before he was wrongfully detained. He doesn’t deserve to be used as a pawn.’

Glezmann has been in detention since Dec. 5, 2022, when he was traveling to Afghanistan to ‘explore the cultural landscape and rich history of the country’ according to a Senate resolution from July 2024 calling for his immediate release. 

The resolution states that Glezmann’s mental and physical condition were deteriorating as a result of his detention in a nine-foot square underground cell. He has only been allowed limited calls to family and has experienced ‘facial tumors, hypertension, severe malnutrition, and other medical conditions’ as a result of his detention.

While the Taliban admit to holding Glezmann in custody, they insist they do not hold Mahmood Habibi. 

Habibi’s brother Ahmad told Fox News Digital the family ‘know[s] that my brother is still in Taliban custody. I can’t share too much about that because we don’t want to put him or others at risk. But anyone accepting the Taliban’s hollow suggestions that they do not have him is falling for their lies.

‘We have multiple witnesses to his arrest by the [General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI)]. We have multiple witnesses who were held with him at GDI headquarters. The Taliban has always claimed they don’t have him and don’t know who he is. How do they explain the obvious contradictions to this?’

Ahmad also claimed the family ‘know[s] that the U.S. government has technical evidence that Mahmood was in GDI custody long after his arrest.’ 

He alleges the Biden National Security Council ‘micromanaged the State Department’s effort to secure my brother’s release’ and ‘blocked [the State Department] from using the data in their discussions with the Taliban, even though we told them that it would have directly confronted the Taliban’s claims that they never heard of my brother.’ 

Neither the State Department nor the National Security Council responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for confirmation of Ahmad’s claims.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Taliban spokespersons Zabihullah Mujahid and Suhail Shaheen about Habibi’s detention and asked Mujahid what happened to Habibi after he was arrested by the GDI. Mujahid did not respond. Shaheen directed Fox News Digital to reach out to the GDI and claimed no knowledge of the situation.  

The Taliban have long sought the release of Guantanamo Bay detainee and al Qaeda facilitator Muhammad Rahim in exchange for the Americans they admitted were in their prisons. Ahmad Habibi told CBS News President Biden assured him in a Jan. 12 phone call that the U.S. would not release Rahim unless the Taliban released Habibi.

Former Principal Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Hugh Dugan told Fox News Digital the Trump administration could pursue multiple ‘lines of effort’ to secure the release of Glezmann and Habibi. 

Dugan said this could involve ‘outright rescue by the military’ at one level or continued ‘subtle diplomacy in the background.’  

Dugan said he recognized that ‘to say we’re doing everything we can … is not satisfying to a family member, frankly, or anybody, and they want to hear that you’re continuing to identify what might have eluded us all along, or that there’s a crack in the horizon that’s opening. 

‘And we need to realize that that might be another step in our path to recovery and a line of effort has to be amended to accommodate new realities at any given moment.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
CIA releases new analysis on COVID origins favoring lab leak theory
next post
Trump’s world leaders club: who’s in and who’s looking to salvage ties

related articles

Democrats project doom and gloom, not celebration, with...

July 5, 2025

Xi Jinping’s surprise no-show at BRICS Summit fuels...

July 5, 2025

Iran regime escalates repression toward ‘North Korea-style model...

July 4, 2025

This July 4th, a family waits: American hostage’s...

July 4, 2025

President Trump to honor Iran strike flight team...

July 4, 2025

North Korea lashes out after Trump DOJ exposes...

July 4, 2025

Saudi defense minister secretly meets with Trump to...

July 4, 2025

Trump administration swarms SCOTUS with emergency requests and...

July 4, 2025

Trump administration torpedoes SCOTUS with emergency requests and...

July 3, 2025

Mike Johnson touts ‘beauty of unified government’ after...

July 3, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Axed government watchdog says Trump has right to fire him

    March 7, 2025
  • Elon Musk quietly donates ‘very substantial’ amount to PAC to canvass Hispanic voters

    October 22, 2024
  • ‘Futile exercise’: House GOP push to impeach judges blocking Trump fizzles out

    March 25, 2025
  • Harris takes slim lead over Trump in new poll as voters view her as candidate of change

    October 8, 2024
  • Trump orders FBI to declassify documents from ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ Russia investigation

    March 25, 2025

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 3

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 4

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (5,251)
  • Investing (634)
  • Stock (832)

Latest Posts

  • Kamala Harris’ big night helps Democrats reverse their fortunes

    August 23, 2024
  • With 25 days until voting starts, ‘election season’ kicks off sooner than you think

    August 12, 2024
  • Biden leans on foreign policy to justify remaining Democrat nominee: Here’s what he’s done

    July 14, 2024

Recent Posts

  • Ripple and Tron: New support levels on Thursday

    October 10, 2024
  • Starbucks barista strike expands as workers demand pay raises

    December 26, 2024
  • SEC charges Robinhood with securities violations; brokerage to pay $45 million penalty

    January 14, 2025

Editor’s Pick

  • ‘Biden effect’ hits the Senate: Wave of retirements clears path for younger Dems

    April 24, 2025
  • On Thursday, the price of Ethereum dropped to a new low

    July 26, 2024
  • Ohio Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown urges Biden to end campaign

    July 19, 2024
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock