Releasing of Americans US top priority

KABUL (TOLOnews): The US Department of State’s spokesman, Mathew Miller, said that Washington does not have a higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas.

He made the remarks in response to a question about Ryan Corbett, an American who’s been detained by the “Taliban” and has been held captive there for 16 months and how willing Kabul is to engage on the topic of detainees at the moment:

“So I don’t want to try to assess their willingness. What I will say is that, of course, we have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas. Not just in this meeting but in previous meetings we have continually pressed for the release of Americans detained in Afghanistan. Special Representative West did meet with a representative of the Taliban this week and pressed for the release of Ryan Corbett and other American detainees.”

“So I wouldn’t want to assess their willingness other than to say it is the highest priority for us and we will continue to work on it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate’s spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that “if any American came to Afghanistan and committed a crime they might be detained but there is no [American] soldier to be detained,” he said.

The political analysts said that Washington and Kabul should exchange the detainees in a bid to pave the way for an improvement of relations.

“I believe that the release of this person [American detainee] will have a positive impact and it will help with the arrival of tourists,” said Wahid Faqiri, an international relations analyst.

The US officials previously also said that they have discussed the fate of the Americans in Afghanistan in their meetings with the Taliban officials.