KABUL (Khaama Press): Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban administration, denied the statements made by the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan regarding the alleged imprisonment of Mahmud Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American citizen, in Afghanistan.
Mr. Mujahid, in an interview with Ariana News on Sunday, August 11, confirmed the imprisonment of two American citizens in Afghanistan but refuted the U.S. envoy’s claim concerning Mahmud Shah Habibi.
Earlier, Thomas West, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan, mentioned that efforts were being made to secure the release of three American citizens currently held in the prisons of the Taliban.
The names of the American prisoners mentioned by the U.S. envoy are George Golzman, Mahmud Shah Habibi, and Ryan Corbett. The U.S. Special Representative emphasized the importance of their release from the Taliban’s prisons.
However, Mujahid insists that no individual by the name of Mahmud Shah Habibi is imprisoned in Afghanistan. In response to a BBC journalist’s question regarding Habibi’s fate, he stated, “He is not in prison.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced yesterday that “Taliban military or security forces detained Mr. Habibi in August 2022, and there has been no news of him since his disappearance.”
The FBI’s statement also requested information about Mr. Habibi, noting that “Mr. Habibi and his driver, along with 29 other employees of the Asia Consulting Company, were detained; all except Mr. Habibi and one other individual have been released.”
It is worth noting that the Taliban administration had previously linked the release of George Golzman and Ryan Corbett to the release of Afghan citizens held in U.S. prisons.
Mujahid reiterated the Taliban’s conditions, stating that American prisoners would only be released from the prisons if the U.S. also released Afghan citizens from its prisons.
The ongoing situation reflects the complex dynamics between the U.S. and the Taliban, with both sides using detained individuals as leverage in their negotiations.
The fate of Mahmud Shah Habibi remains uncertain amidst conflicting statements and the lack of concrete information from both parties.
