The Taliban on Thursday released George Glezmann, an American held since 2022 in Afghanistan, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A native of Atlanta, Mr. Glezmann was a mechanic for Delta Air Lines who was detained while visiting Afghanistan as a tourist in December 2022. The State Department had officially designated him a wrongful detainee.
He boarded a Qatari aircraft in Kabul, the Afghan capital, to fly to Doha with U.S. and Qatari officials on Thursday. Qatar maintains close ties with the ruling Taliban government in Afghanistan and has hosted talks between them and U.S. officials. Negotiations between the first Trump administration and Taliban insurgents for a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan took place in Doha.
In his announcement of Mr. Glezmann’s release, Mr. Rubio thanked the Qatari government for its assistance. Adam Boehler, President Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the negotiations with the Taliban.
The Taliban toppled the previous Afghan government in August 2021 and returned to power after President Joseph R. Biden Jr. executed the troop withdrawal that Mr. Trump had negotiated in his first term. The United States does not have diplomatic relations with the Taliban and has imposed sanctions on it. Taliban officials are seeking to normalize relations with the United States.
Mr. Rubio noted that Mr. Glezmann’s release serves as “a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan.”
The State Department stated it is still seeking the return of six American detainees in Afghanistan and the remains of one U.S. citizen. Although the agency has not labeled them wrongfully detained, one State Department official indicated that the Americans were unjustly detained.
A wrongful detention designation means the U.S. government prioritizes efforts to free that citizen.
The department has emphasized the case of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan American businessman taken from his vehicle near his home in Kabul in August 2022, according to a report by the F.B.I. Mr. Habibi worked for the Asia Consultancy Group, a telecommunications company based in Kabul.
The Taliban government previously released two Americans, Ryan Corbett and William Wallace McKenty, in late January as part of a prisoner swap arranged by the Biden administration. U.S. officials released Khan Mohammed, a Taliban member who had been imprisoned for life in California on charges of drug trafficking and terrorism. Mr. Biden granted a conditional commutation to Mr. Mohammed before leaving office.