The Biden administration is in negotiations with Afghanistan to secure the release of American detainees in exchange for at least one high-profile prisoner held at Guantanamo Bay, with alleged links to former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
Representatives from the White House, the US State Department, and the Afghan Taliban did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.
The Biden administration is seeking the release of three Americans – Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann, and Mahmood Habibi – who were detained in Afghanistan in 2022. In return, the US is offering Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, an Afghan high-level al-Qaeda operative held at Guantanamo Bay since 2008 after being transferred from CIA custody.
Corbett and Habibi were detained in separate incidents in August 2022, a year after the Taliban took control of Kabul during the chaotic US withdrawal. Glezmann was arrested later that year while visiting Afghanistan as a tourist.
The negotiations have been ongoing since July, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, which cited sources who attended a classified briefing last month with White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
This news follows the Biden administration’s decision to transfer 11 Guantanamo detainees to Oman on Monday, which reduced the detention center’s population by nearly half as part of the broader effort to close the facility before President Biden leaves office on January 20.
