WASHINGTON — Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, said Thursday that George Glezmann, an American citizen detained in Kabul for two years, has been released by the Taliban and is on his way home.
In a post on X, Khalilzad said the Taliban agreed to free Glezmann as a “goodwill gesture” to President Donald Trump and the American people.
“Today is a good day,” Khalilzad wrote. “We succeeded in obtaining the release of an American citizen, George Glezmann, after two years in detention in Kabul. The Taliban government agreed to free him as a goodwill gesture to US President Donald Trump and the American people. George is on his way home to his family.”
Khalilzad credited Trump’s administration for prioritizing the release of Americans held abroad, calling it “an honor to assist in this important effort.”
Glezmann’s release comes just days after Khalilzad and Adam Boehler, the U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul on Thursday. The Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said the meeting focused on bilateral relations, consular services for Afghans in the U.S., and prisoner exchanges.
U.S. officials did not initially commented on the meeting.
Currently, at least one other U.S. citizen, Mahmoud Shah Habibi, remains in Taliban custody. A former aviation official in Afghanistan, Habibi disappeared in 2022, and the Taliban have denied holding him, despite evidence to the contrary.
In January, the U.S. and the Taliban exchanged two American detainees, Ryan Corbett and William McKenty, for an Afghan prisoner held in the U.S.
