The Media Line: Taliban Presses for Release of Bin Laden Associate in Exchange for US Citizen  

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Taliban Presses for Release of Bin Laden Associate in Exchange for US Citizen  

By Arshad Mehmood/The Media Line Staff 

A significant development has emerged in the recent goodwill-driven prisoner exchange between the United States and the Afghan Taliban.  

According to credible sources, the Afghan Taliban are seeking the release of Muhammad Rahim al-Afghani, a longtime Guantánamo Bay detainee and close associate of Osama bin Laden who served as his translator and his children’s tutor.  

Al-Afghani is said to be the last Afghan citizen detainee held at Guantánamo Bay.  

In return, the Taliban has expressed readiness, at the request of the US, to release an American citizen, Mahmood Shah Habibi.  

Habibi, a dual US citizen, was arrested shortly after al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed in a US drone strike in Kabul.  

Reportedly, Habibi was first interrogated by Taliban intelligence and later handed over to al-Qaida as retribution for Zawahiri’s death.  

Despite these claims, the Taliban has consistently denied detaining Habibi or knowing his whereabouts.  

Afghan sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Media Line on Monday that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, is personally pressing for the release of Rahim al-Afghani.  

Baradar’s efforts are not on behalf of the Taliban leadership but stem from his personal ties to bin Laden’s family.  

The latest development not only highlights the close relationship between al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban but also confirms Habibi’s fate — namely, that he is alive and being held alongside al-Qaida operatives in Afghanistan.  

However, a Taliban official declined to comment on the latest developments about al-Afghani when asked by The Media Line.  

On the other hand, Afghan Taliban sources say al-Afghani will be released in exchange for the American citizen Amir Amiry, who was freed Sunday.  

On Sept. 13, a US delegation led by Adam Boehler, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage affairs, and former special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Baradar.  

Ahmed Najeeb Zadran, a former Afghan diplomat, told The Media Line that the “key question is why Adam Boehler and Zalmay Khalilzad chose to meet with Mullah Ghani Baradar, given that he is primarily responsible for Afghanistan’s economic affairs.”  

“A meeting with Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi could be justified, as he is the foreign minister and such matters fall within his domain,” Zadran explained. “But it is also a fact that Mullah Baradar has had very close ties with bin Laden’s family.”  

According to Zadran, “It is true that Baradar is regarded as one of the founding leaders of the Taliban and, along with Mullah Omar, was among the few who extended an invitation to bin Laden to come to Afghanistan after 9/11.”  

Al-Afghani, born in 1965 in Nangarhar province, was captured in Lahore, Pakistan, in June 2007 and handed over to US custody.  

US authorities describe him as a close associate of bin Laden, allegedly serving as a translator and facilitator for al-Qaida. Despite spending more than 17 years in US custody, he has never faced formal charges in court.  

Muhammad Zakir Jalali, a senior Taliban Foreign Ministry official, voiced optimism about improving relations with the United States after a recent visit by an American delegation to Kabul.  

Jalali said on the X platform that recent high-level meetings and the release of American prisoners could pave the way for broader engagement between the Taliban and Washington.  

He said the two sides had agreed on a proper approach to addressing the prisoner issue and would continue talks on other topics.