US offered to swap Guantanamo prisoner to free detained Americans in Afghanistan

(CNN) — The US offered to trade a Guantanamo Bay prisoner in exchange for the release of three Americans held in Afghanistan, a source familiar told CNN.

The US has been in discussions with the Taliban for months about a deal to free Ryan Corbett, George Glezmann and Mahmoud Habibi, all of whom were detained in Afghanistan in 2022. The Taliban has not acknowledged detaining Habibi.

The US presented an offer to trade Muhammad Rahim al Afghani, alleged to have been a “close associate” of Osama bin Laden, for the three Americans. The Taliban countered by asking for Rahim and two other people.

Roger Carstens, the top US hostage envoy, was in Doha, Qatar, in recent days and presented a new and “significant” offer to the Taliban, according to another source. They did not provide details about the new offer.

The Biden administration has had success securing the release of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, most recently from China and Russia. However, the efforts to bring the Americans home from Afghanistan are likely to face political headwinds amplified by the deadly US withdrawal in August 2021 that saw the Taliban come to power.

A spokesperson for the US National Security Council would not confirm the details of the offers, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

However, they said the administration is “working around the clock to ensure George, Ryan, and Mahmood’s safe return.”

They also touted the successes by the Biden administration in securing the release of Americans held abroad.

“President Biden and his team continue to work, often in partnership with key allies, to negotiate for the release of Americans held hostage or unjustly detained abroad so that they can be reunited with their families, and the administration will do so throughout the remainder of the term,” the spokesperson said.

The Biden administration does not acknowledge the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan but has engaged with the group in Doha to discuss issues like human rights and the detained Americans.

“We are deeply concerned about the well-being of Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan – Mahmood, Ryan, and George Glezmann – and raise their detentions in every engagement we have with the Taliban,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in August. “Bringing them home will continue to be a top priority for the United States as we work to obtain their release.”

Both Glezmann and Corbett have been declared wrongfully detained by the US State Department. In August 2024, the FBI issued a request for information about Habibi.

The families have long been pressing the US government to do more to secure the release of their loved ones. Corbett and Glezmann’s wives have expressed deep concerns about their husbands’ health.

Dennis Fitzpatrick, the Glezmann family attorney, told CNN Wednesday that George has been depressed and frantic in calls to his wife, Aleksandra.

In a letter to Biden in July, Aleksandra Glezmann wrote that her husband’s “health is failing,” that he had a benign tumor on one side of his face, was losing vision in one eye and had developed sores and ulcers on his body.

“I have recently been allowed short, monitored phone calls with George. He expresses despair that I have never heard from him previously. In addition to his words, I can hear the resignation in his voice,” she wrote.

Fitzpatrick on Wednesday said he hoped a deal could be made in the final days of the Biden administration, but said that key officials like the president and national security adviser “need to make some decisions.”

Last March, Corbett’s wife, Anna, told CNN she was concerned for her husband’s wellbeing.

“His health is declining. His mental health is declining. And he is still alive but we don’t know how long and we need to bring him back home immediately,” she said at the time.

CNN’s Arlette Saenz contributed to this story.

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