U.S. Presses for Release of Americans Held in Afghanistan

U.S. officials made a new offer to the Taliban over the weekend to try to secure the release of Americans held in Afghanistan, according to people familiar with the matter.

American officials declined to discuss the negotiations or the offer. But people briefed on the conversations said the White House had been working on a deal to get the Americans back in exchange for Muhammad Rahim, an Afghan who has been held at Guantánamo Bay since 2008.

The U.S. government has said Mr. Rahim was a senior aide in Al Qaeda, but others have cast doubt on his role in the organization, suggesting that he was a courier and a translator and would not pose a threat to the United States if he were released.

The Taliban have acknowledged holding two Americans. One of them, George Glezmann, a former airline mechanic, was touring Afghanistan when he was taken prisoner in December 2022. The other, Ryan Corbett, who had long lived in Afghanistan with his family before the fall of the U.S.-backed government, was on a business trip when he was seized in August 2022.

The Taliban have refused to say whether they are holding a third American whose return is also sought by the U.S. government. That person, Mahmood Habibi, a naturalized American, was taken captive soon after the U.S. strike in Afghanistan in 2022 that killed Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda.

Mr. Habibi’s family has said that he was arrested with 30 other people who all worked for the same American firm, Asia Consultancy Group, on suspicion that the company was involved in the U.S. drone strike that killed the Qaeda leader. U.S. officials would not discuss whether Mr. Habibi had a role in the strike, nor is his condition known.

But his father, Ahmadullah, and brother, Ahmad, have denied that he was involved. Mr. Habibi was out of the country at the time of the attack and arrived in Afghanistan days later, they said. They have also said, based on “several independent sources in Afghanistan,” that he was alive and last known to be in custody of the government’s General Directorate of Intelligence.

Sean Savett, a National Security Council spokesman, said the Biden administration had negotiated the return of more than 75 Americans held overseas. He said officials were “working around the clock” to ensure the return of Mr. Glezmann, Mr. Corbett and Mr. Habibi.

“The administration will do so throughout the remainder of the term,” he added.

The administration made an earlier offer to the Taliban to secure the release of the three men on Nov. 14, a proposal that The Wall Street Journal reported earlier.

Mr. Rahim has never been charged with crimes while held in Guantánamo. James G. Connell III, a defense lawyer who has represented Mr. Rahim for his detention review hearings, said that Mr. Rahim was willing to be traded but that the U.S. government had not reached out to them.

“I have never received official confirmation from any government that talks are ongoing, or were ongoing, for that matter,” Mr. Connell said.

Mr. Rahim is not currently eligible for transfer out of Guantánamo. A federal national security review panel has repeatedly deemed him too dangerous to be released, most recently on Nov. 21, 2023.

But U.S. officials have discussed transferring him to Qatar as part of a prisoner swap, according to the people briefed on the discussions.

The Defense Department is legally required to notify Congress 30 days before a detainee is released from Guantánamo.

But the Obama administration ignored that requirement when it sent five Taliban prisoners from Guantánamo to Qatar in return for the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl in 2014. Like Mr. Rahim, none of those prisoners were approved for release through the national security review panel process.

Republicans criticized the Bergdahl trade, and a Government Accountability Office study concluded that the Obama administration broke the law.

But Dennis M. Fitzpatrick, a lawyer for the Glezmann family and a former terrorism prosecutor, said that Mr. Rahim was improperly classified as ineligible to be released and that the government had long exaggerated the danger he posed.

“He is no longer a national security threat,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said. “He was never operational with respect to being a fighter or organizer. He’s also not an intelligence risk to the United States, nor does he have any intelligence value. If he’s not operational and there’s no intelligence issue, then he’s not a national security threat.”

In a letter sent to the White House last July, Aleksandra Glezmann, Mr. Glezmann’s wife, spoke about President Biden’s long commitment to public service while she pushed for a deal.

“I beseech you to intervene personally in George’s matter and do everything in your power to bring him home,” she wrote. “We understand the Taliban poses extreme geopolitical challenges for the United States, and we do not suggest that securing George’s release is easy. But you did not enter a life of public service to do easy things.”

Mr. Corbett and his family had lived in Kabul between 2010 and 2021. After leaving Afghanistan during the American withdrawal, Mr. Corbett returned for a trip, to support his Afghan employees who were continuing his microloan and consulting business.

Since his capture, his wife, Anna Corbett, and their children have been lobbying the White House and officials in Washington to press for his release.

Both families met with Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, late last year.