Frustrated with White House, family of detained American reaches out to Taliban
livemint.comThe family of George Glezmann, feeling like it is running out of options, has informed the White House it would negotiate directly with the Taliban to try to secure the American hostage’s release from Afghanistan. “We are in the process of finalizing a meeting in Doha with the [Taliban] to try to recover George," wrote George Taylor, a Glezmann family representative, in an email last week to senior U.S. officials including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top hostage negotiator Roger Carstens.
Taylor accused the administration of putting little emphasis on Glezmann’s case, leaving him to languish in a cell as his health deteriorates. He implored the government “to exhibit the necessary courage and leadership that it takes to facilitate the release of George." Glezmann, a Delta Air Lines mechanic, was touring Afghanistan when the Taliban seized him in December 2022. The State Department 10 months later designated him as wrongfully detained, giving the administration vast authorities to secure his release.
But Glezmann’s family insists they don’t get enough information or cooperation from the Biden administration, driving them to contact Glezmann’s captors in hopes of pushing negotiations forward. Officials from Carstens’s office at the State Department and the National Security Council previously warned Taylor, a Delta general manager for corporate security, that taking the meeting would complicate efforts to free Glezmann, he recounted, as U.S. officials imminently planned to meet with Taliban members.
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