American man held in Afghanistan for 2 years freed in exchange for drug lord

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- An American contractor who's been held in Afghanistan for more than two years will soon be on his way home after a prisoner swap with an Afghan drug lord who'd been in U.S. custody for nearly 20 years.

The Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since the U.S. withdrawal a year ago, released contractor Mark Frerichs on Monday. He went missing in January 2020 and U.S. officials believe he was taken by the Haqqani network, which is linked to the Taliban.

Frerichs' family, the Taliban and the White House all acknowledged the exchange. He was traded for Bashir Noorzai, an Afghan tribal leader and accused drug trafficker who'd been in U.S. custody since 2005. He was serving a life sentence.

"His release is the culmination of years of tireless work by dedicated public servants across our government and other partner governments, and I want to thank them for all that effort," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark's freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly."

Frerichs, 60, is a Navy veteran who'd been living and working in Kabul for about a decade when he was abducted.

Noorzai said after arriving in Kabul Monday that he expects the prisoner swap to ease tensions between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the United States.

The U.S. government had demanded Frerich's release from the beginning. In January, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Frerichs had long worked as a civilian in Afghanistan on public construction projects.

"The United States has raised Mark's case in every meeting with the Taliban, and we have been clear that the legitimacy the Taliban seek is impossible to consider while they hold a U.S. citizen hostage," Price said in a statement at the time.

"His release is among our core, non-negotiable priorities. We will continue to send a clear message to Taliban leadership: immediately and safely release Mark and disavow the practice of hostage-taking."

Meanwhile, the families of other Americans who are being jailed abroad are hoping for a similar resolution.

WNBA star Brittney Griner has been held in Russia since February and was convicted on drug charges last month and sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony -- and former Marine Paul Whelan has been held there since 2018 on espionage charges.

Last week, the White House said that President Joe Biden plans to meet soon with relatives of both Griner and Whelan.

"My administration continues to prioritize the safe return of all Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, and we will not stop until they are reunited with their families," Biden added Monday. "We have much more work to do in many other cases, but Mark's release demonstrates our enduring commitment."