US President Joe Biden asked the Taliban Sunday to “immediately release” the person was believed to be the last American hostage, holding out all the hopes of recognizing militant government in Afghanistan until he was free.
The announcement came on the second anniversary of Mark Frerichs, a US Navy veteran who had spent a decade in Afghanistan worked as a civil engineer.
“The Taliban must immediately release the sign before they can expect consideration of aspirations for legitimacy. This cannot be negotiated,” Biden said in a statement.
“Threatens the safety of Americans or innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and taking hostages is certain atrocities and cowardice actions,” he added.
The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, covering more than two decades of war that began with the US-led invasion after the September 11, 2001 attacks and ended with the Taliban back in power.
Washington has repeatedly told the Taliban, he must “get” legitimacy before being recognized by the international community.
According to reports, Taliban negotiators previously suggested the exchange of prisoners, exchanging Frerichs for Bashir Noorzai, a warlord of the Afghan tribe and the alleged Taliban Associate was imprisoned in a lifetime in the United States to smuggle heroin to the country.
Freichs’s brother, Charlene Cakora, begged on a piece on Thursday at the Washington post for Biden to take him home.
“The US government conducts this trade or does not save my lives. Every day we don’t bring Mark Home is another day he remains in danger,” Cakora wrote.
Because the United States completed the withdrawal of last August, White House spokesman Jen PSaki said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other US officials were involved in encouraging Frerich’s release.