The family of American hostage George Glezmann, a 65 year-old airline mechanic from Atlanta, Georgia, who has been held in Afghanistan for nearly two years, has told the White House they will negotiate directly with the Taliban to try and secure his release.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a representative for Glezmann’s family wrote to senior U.S. national security officials last week and accused them of neglecting his case.
George Taylor, the family’s representative, asked national security adviser Jake Sullivan, lead hostage negotiator Roger Carstens and others in an e-mail “to exhibit the necessary courage and leadership that it takes to facilitate the release of George.”
Taylor advised the officials that the family is in the process of arranging a meeting in Doha with the Taliban.
The Taliban, which recaptured Afghanistan after President Joe Biden decided to withdraw US troops in 2021, seized Glezmann in December 2022 during a trip he had taken to the country as a tourist. Ten months after his capture, the State Department ruled he was wrongfully detained.
Glezman’s wife, Alexandra, told WSB-TV Atlanta last week that an EU diplomat was able to meet with her husband recently and found he was in “deteriorating health, mentioning that he has lost several teeth, has sores on his back, and bumps in his mouth that make eating difficult.”
The newspaper reported that Glezmann’s family believes they have received substandard information and cooperation from the Biden administration, which led them to reach out to his captors.
“There is also a growing sense among some families that there is a tiered system in place, with celebrity hostages getting nearly all the media’s and president’s attention,” reads the Journal’s report.
