Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Glezmann was on his way back to the United States to be reunited with his wife, Aleksandra, and praised Qatar for "steadfast commitment and diplomatic efforts" that he said were "instrumental in securing George's release."

"George's release is a positive and constructive step," Rubio said. "It is also a reminder that other Americans are still detained in Afghanistan. President Trump will continue his tireless work to free ALL Americans unjustly detained around the world."

Glezmann was being accompanied back to the United States, through Qatar's capital, Doha, by Adam Boehler, who has been handling hostage issues for President Donald Trump's administration. The Taliban disclosed earlier Thursday that Boehler had been meeting on hostage issues with a delegation that included Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

The release of Glezmann, who's in his mid-60s, is part of what the Taliban has previously described as the "normalization" of ties between the U.S. and Afghanistan following the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Most countries still don't recognize the Taliban's rule.

Glezmann's release follows a separate deal, arranged in January in the final days of the Biden administration and also mediated by the Qataris, that secured the releases of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty.

The Taliban's Foreign Ministry in Kabul said at the time that those two U.S. citizens had been exchanged for Khan Mohammed, who was detained on the battlefield in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, and later taken to the U.S, where he was sentenced to two life terms in 2008 after being convicted under U.S. narco-terrorism laws.

Unlike in that arrangement, the U.S. did not give up any prisoner to secure Glezmann's release, which was done as a goodwill gesture, according to an official briefed on the matter who insisted on anonymity due to the sensitivity of the negotiations.

On Thursday, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed the release of the American on "humanitarian grounds." In a statement, it said the "Islamic Emirate again reaffirms its longstanding position that dialogue, understanding and diplomacy provide effective avenues for resolving all issues."

President Joe Biden contemplated before he left office an earlier proposal that would have involved the release of Glezmann and other Americans for Muhammad Rahim, one of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But Biden told families during a call in January that he would not support trading Rahim unless the Taliban released Mahmood Habibi, an Afghan-American businessman who worked as a contractor for a Kabul-based telecommunications company and vanished in 2022.

The FBI and Habibi's family have said they believe Habibi was taken by Taliban forces, but the Taliban has denied holding him. Representatives for Habibi on Thursday cited what they said was "overwhelming evidence" that he was arrested by the Taliban after his home was searched by people identifying themselves as part of the Taliban's security service.

"We are confident that the Trump Administration will hold firm that my brother needs to be released for relations with the U.S. to move forward," one of Habibi's brothers, Ahmad, said in a statement. "We have reason to be confident Mahmood is alive and in Taliban custody, despite their hollow denials of holding him. My brother is an innocent man who has been held away from his wife, young daughter, and elderly parents for 953 days."