...Arabic for students...
figures walk free, the Taliban said Tuesday.
American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, both professors at the American University of Kabul, were released in the southern Zabul province.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the two men were handed over to Afghan government representatives, intermediaries or US forces.
King and Weeks were kidnapped outside the university three years ago. The following year, the Taliban released two videos of them and another in January 2017 in which they appeared pale and gaunt.
Both claimed at the time that they were being treated well and asked their governments to help in their release ‐ but it’s impossible to know whether they were forced to speak.
High-level HQN leaders arrive in Qatar after being released from prison in Afghanistan
[KhaamaPress] Three senior Haqqani Network leaders including Anas Haqqani have arrived in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
after being released from prison in Afghanistan, it has been reported.
Sources privy of the development have confirmed to media outlets that the Afghan government released the three senior Haqqani network
...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani...
leaders late on Monday night.
Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi earlier said President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money...
phoned the Secretary of State of the United States Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser Rober O’Brien on Monday night to review the steps necessary to implement President Ghani’s recent decision to release the three high-level Taliban
/Haqqani detainees.PM Imran welcomes release of 2 hostages by Taliban in Afghanistan
[DAWN] The Taliban
snuffies released two Western hostages ‐ Kevin King from the United States and Timothy Weeks from Australia ‐ on Tuesday in a prisoner exchange deal with the Afghan government, two Afghan officials said."This morning at around 10am two American University professors were released in Nawbahar district of Zabul province. They were flown out of Zabul by American helicopters," a local police source said.
"The two professors are safely freed and are being taken care of now," one of the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, told Rooters.
The American and Australian were exchanged with three Taliban leaders, including key krazed killer figure Anas Haqqani, added Rooters.
US Welcomes Release of AUAF Professors
[ToloNews] The US White House issued a statement on Wednesday responding to the release of Kevin King, American, and Timothy Weeks, Australian, saying: “The Taliban have indicated that the release of the two professors is intended as a goodwill gesture, which the United States welcomes.”
It added that the United States condemns the taking of innocent civilians as hostages.
The White House statement continued, “Additionally, we welcome the Taliban’s impending release of 10 Afghan prisoners, and the Afghan government’s release of 3 Taliban prisoners,” the statement said.
"We see these developments as hopeful signs that the Afghan war, a terrible and costly conflict that has lasted 40 years, may soon conclude through a political settlement," the statement added. "We commend President Ashraf Ghani and the Afghan government for advancing that goal while simultaneously working to strengthen and reform Afghanistan’s security forces."
According to the statement, during the past two years, President Ghani extended an offer to talk to the Taliban “without preconditions” and “called for a ceasefire during the Muslim holiday of Eid-ul-Fitr in 2018, which the Taliban reciprocated.”
The statement addresses the complex Afghan political environment: “The United States also commended the many Afghan politicians who put their political differences aside and did not use these humanitarian gestures for personal political gain.”
Notably, the statement acknowledged that a change in recent Taliban attacks might indicate an opportunity for peace talks: “Along with a reduction of violence in Kabul during the past few days, the above developments give us hope for the success of intra-Afghan peace negotiations, which the United States stands ready to support.”
Meanwhile, US envoy in Kabul, John Bass, said in a tweet that "today we saw important humanitarian steps by Afghan govt and Taliban. American Kevin King, Australian colleague Tim Weeks and 10 ANSDF members will soon reunite with families. One step leads to a step in response. More steps create a pathway to peace in Afghanistan."
Related:
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Afghan government reconsiders decision to swap HQN leaders with American University lecturers
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Afghan forces seize massive arsenal of ammunition of Taliban in Faryab
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Nangarhar: ISIS in Khurasan Province surrenders to Taliban, 72 more ISIS turbans surrender to Afghan gov’t forces
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Afghan government reconsiders decision to swap HQN leaders with American University lecturers
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Afghan forces seize massive arsenal of ammunition of Taliban in Faryab
Taliban: 2019-11-18 Nangarhar: ISIS in Khurasan Province surrenders to Taliban, 72 more ISIS turbans surrender to Afghan gov’t forces