| More on this story from yesterday. |
...Arabic for
students...
drug lord who had been held in US government custody since his capture 17 years ago.
Mark Frerichs, a US Navy veteran and civilian contractor, was kidnapped two years ago in Kabul where it was believed he was held captive by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network
...a branch of the Afghan Taliban, based in Pakistain. The network is a family business founded by the later Jalaluddin Haqqani...
A Biden administration, the guys that caused the debacle in Afghanistan
...the pack of self-imagined masterminds of strategy and intrigue at the service of the Biden Crime Family and a grateful nation...official confirmed Frerichs’ release on Monday.
"Bringing Mark home has been a top priority for President Joe Biden
...... 46th president of the U.S.
We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created ... by the — you know — you know, the thing......
and his national security team," the official told CNN
...the organization formerly known as the
Cable News Network. Now who knows what it might stand for...
Frerichs’ sister, Charlene Cakora, of Lombard, Ill., thanked the government for working to free her brother.
"I am so happy to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home to us. Our family has prayed for this each day of the more than 31 months he has been a hostage. We never gave up hope that he would survive and come home safely to us," Cakora said in a statement.
The Taliban official released, Bashir Noorzai, was convicted in 2005 of smuggling $50 million worth of heroin from Afghanistan and Pakistan into the US and was serving a life sentence.
Noorzai told reporters in Kabul that he had been released from an unspecified prison in the US, but other Taliban officials said he had been held at a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay.
Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, said the prisoner exchange marked a “new era” in relations with the US.
Related:
Mark Frerichs: 2022-09-19 Mark Frerichs: US hostage swapped for Afghan leader linked to Taliban
Mark Frerichs: 2022-04-03 An American citizen and a US resident have been freed from Taliban detention
Mark Frerichs: 2021-08-25 Biden Ready to Make Deal with Taliban for Last U.S. Hostage, But Needs Proof of Life
Mark Frerichs: 2022-09-19 Mark Frerichs: US hostage swapped for Afghan leader linked to Taliban
Mark Frerichs: 2022-04-03 An American citizen and a US resident have been freed from Taliban detention
Mark Frerichs: 2021-08-25 Biden Ready to Make Deal with Taliban for Last U.S. Hostage, But Needs Proof of Life