After Qatari mediation, Taliban releases detained British couple held for months in Afghanan | World News

The Taliban on Friday released Peter and Barbie Reynolds, a British couple in their late 70s, who had been detained in Afghanan for more than seven months on undisclosed charges, AP reported. Their release is seen as part of the Taliban’s push to gain international legitimacy, three years after seizing power.The detention of Peter and Barbie Reynolds, aged 80 and 76, highlighted Western concerns about the Taliban’s rule since they ousted Afghanan’s U.S.-backed government in 2021.
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The couple, long-time residents of Bamiyan province where they ran an education and training organisation for nearly two decades, had chosen to stay in Afghanan even after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover. But their sudden detention last year left family members in the UK pleading for answers.

“God is good, as they say in Afghanan,” Barbie said with relief as she prepared to leave Kabul airport.

Qatar mediated the release

Qatar, which has often acted as a mediator between the Taliban and Western governments, brokered the deal that secured their freedom. The Reynolds flew to Doha on Friday, where they reunited with their daughter Sarah Entwle in an emotional moment on the tarmac.

Peter and Barbie looked cheerful and in good health as they stepped off the plane with smiles on their faces. Their daughter, Sarah Entwle, rushed to greet them, wrapping them both in a hug before holding her father’s hand and walking with him into the terminal.

Entwle thanked both the British and Qatari governments, saying the family was overwhelmed with relief after her parents’ “incomprehensible detention.” She described the ordeal as a reminder of the “power of diplomacy, empathy, and international cooperation.”

“This experience has reminded us of the power of diplomacy, empathy and international cooperation,” she told journals, according to AP.

Qatari Foreign Minry official Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi praised both the UK and the Taliban for cooperating to secure the release. In London, Prime Miner Keir Starmer welcomed the news, calling it “a huge relief” and thanking Qatar, including its emir, for playing a “vital role.”

“I want to pay tribute to the vital role played Qatar, including the emir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom,” Starmer said in a statement.

For months, the Reynolds’ family in Britain had campaigned for their freedom, claiming they were being mreated in custody. The Taliban denied abuse but never explained why the couple was detained. On Friday, Taliban Foreign Minry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi said they had “violated Afghan law” but did not specify which one. 

He thanked Qatar for its “sincere efforts and mediation” and  said they were handed over to Richard Lindsay, the UK’s special envoy for Afghanan, after a court hearing.

The couple’s release follows a July warning from UN human rights experts that their health was deteriorating and that they risked “irreparable harm or even death” if not freed. 

It also comes as the Taliban push to normalise ties abroad. Earlier this month, they announced an agreement with US envoys on a prisoner swap, months after freeing an American tour. Back in March, they had also freed an American tour, George Glezmann, who was kidnapped while traveling in Afghanan.

Afghanan’s economy continues to buckle, especially after the August 31 eartquake, but Western nations remain reluctant to funnel money directly to the Taliban, citing restrictions on women and civil rights.

Meanwhile, Afghanan remains on the radar of former US president Donald Trump, who during a UK visit this week suggested he was looking to reestablish a US presence at Bagram Air Base. Taliban official Zakir Jalaly dismissed the idea outright.

(With inputs from AP)