AFP

An American navy veteran detained in Afghanistan since 2020 was released in exchange for a Taliban ally imprisoned in the United States for heroin smuggling, US and Afghan officials announced Monday.

The Taliban government freed Mark Frerichs, who was working as a civil engineer on construction projects in Afghanistan when he was detained 31 months ago.

The US government, meanwhile, released Bashar Noorzai, a former regional strongman who was sentenced to life imprisonment in an American court 17 years ago for smuggling large amounts of heroin.

“After long negotiations, US citizen Mark Frerichs was handed over to an American delegation and that delegation handed over (Noorzai) to us today at Kabul airport,” Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said at a press conference.

“We are happy that at Kabul International Airport, in the capital of Afghanistan, we witnessed the wonderful ceremony of one of our compatriots returning home.”

Frerichs, meanwhile, flew to Qatar, a US official said, adding that he was “in stable health.”

“Today, we have secured the release of Mark Frerichs, and he will soon be home,” US 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,” he said.

Qatari officials confirmed they played a months-long role in securing the veteran’s freedom.

The US government gave no other details, but diplomats told AFP that Qatar had helped US officials step up contacts with the Taliban in the months after Washington withdrew from Afghanistan. “This is one result of those contacts,” a diplomat said.

– Hero’s welcome –

Noorzai was welcomed with a hero’s fanfare by the government of the newly styled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). Photos show he was greeted by masked Taliban soldiers bearing floral garlands.

“If the IEA had not shown its strong determination, I would not have been here today,” Noorzai said.

“My release in exchange for an American will be a source of peace between Afghanistan and Americans.”

Noorzai is the second Afghan inmate released by the United States in recent months. In June, Assadullah Haroon was released after 15 years of detention in the United States’ notorious Guantanamo Bay prison.

Haroon was accused of links to Al-Qaeda but languished without charge for years at the US detention centre in Cuba, after his arrest in 2006 while working as a honey trader.

Afghan security analyst Hekmatullah Hekmat said Noorzai’s release was a “major achievement” for Kabul’s new rulers.

“The Taliban can tell their foot soldiers and Afghans that they are able to bring back their people held by opposition groups,” he told AFP.

– ‘Non-negotiable’ –

For Washington, Frerichs’ release was a priority issue to resolve after US forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021 following the Taliban’s seizure of power.

The United States and allies have refused to recognise the new government, with Washington repeatedly telling the Taliban that they will have to “earn” legitimacy.

Biden had warned in January that the Taliban must release Frerichs “before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy.”

Noorzai, a militia commander, once fought with US-backed mujahideen forces against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and was a close associate of the Taliban’s late founder Mullah Omar.

While he held no official position, Noorzai had “provided strong support including weapons” for the Taliban in the 1990s, Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP on Monday.

After travelling to the United States in 2005, he was arrested and accused of running a “worldwide narcotics network.” When released, he had served 17 years of a life sentence in a federal prison.

– Delayed by Zawahiri killing –

Biden, who spoke to Frerichs’ family ahead of the release, did not mention the deal involved.

But a senior Biden administration official said that the president okayed the swap in June after the Taliban made clear they wanted Noorzai in exchange for Frerichs’ freedom.

Granting Noorzai clemency and returning him would “not materially change” the situation for Americans or the state of the Afghan drug trade, the US official said.

The official said the deal was delayed as Biden ordered the drone strike that killed Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in his Kabul residence on July 31.

Immediately after that, Washington quickly resumed pressure on Kabul for the exchange, warning them not to harm Frerichs and that a release could “begin to rebuild trust,” the official said. 

A US judge on Monday threw out the conviction of a man who has served more than two decades in prison for his ex-girlfriend’s murder — a case that received worldwide attention thanks to the hit podcast “Serial.”

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Melissa Phinn vacated the conviction of Adnan Syed, 42, who has been serving a life sentence since 2000 for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee. 

Phinn ordered Syed released immediately on his own recognizance “in the interests of justice and fairness.”

Cheers erupted in the packed courtroom when the judge ordered officers to “remove the shackles” from Syed, who was sporting a thick beard and wearing a white shirt, dark tie and a white skullcap.

Lee’s body was found buried in February 1999 in a shallow grave in the woods of Baltimore, Maryland. The 18-year-old had been strangled.

Syed has steadfastly maintained his innocence but his multiple appeals had been denied, including by the US Supreme Court which declined in 2019 to hear his case.

In a surprise move last week, the Baltimore City state’s attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced that she had asked the court to vacate Syed’s conviction while a further investigation is carried out.

Assistant state’s attorney Becky Feldman told the judge on Monday the decision was prompted by the discovery of new information regarding two alternative suspects and the unreliability of cell phone data used to convict Syed.

“The state has lost confidence in the integrity of his conviction,” Feldman said. “We need to make sure we hold the correct person accountable.

“We will be continuing our investigation,” she said, while promising to “do everything we can to bring justice to the Lee family.”

Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, also addressed the court, saying “my client is innocent.”

Suter was asked by reporters how Syed, who did not make any public statement, reacted to the judge’s decision.

“He said he could not believe it’s real,” she said. 

– ‘Blindsided’ –

  

Baltimore City prosecutors now have 30 days to either bring new charges against Syed or dismiss the case.

“We’re not yet declaring Adnan Syed is innocent,” Mosby, the state’s attorney, told reporters after the hearing.

She said the state was awaiting the results of new DNA tests on Lee’s clothing before deciding whether to drop all charges or organize a new trial.   

Before the hearing began, Lee’s brother, Young Lee, addressed the court by Zoom.

An emotional Lee said he was “kind of blindsided” by the prosecutor’s decision to vacate Syed’s conviction.

“Out of nowhere I hear that there’s a motion to vacate judgment,” he said. “It’s tough going through this again and again and again.”

Lee said he “trusts the court system” and asked the judge to “make the right decision.”

Syed’s case earned worldwide attention when it was taken up in 2014 by “Serial,” a weekly podcast that saw a journalist revisit his conviction and cast doubt on his guilt.

His case has also been the subject of a four-part documentary on the HBO channel called “The Case Against Adnan Syed.”

The “Serial” podcast — a mix of investigative journalism, first-person narrative and dramatic storytelling — focused its first season on Syed’s story in 12 nail-biting episodes.

Both Syed and Lee were high school honor students and children from immigrant families — he Pakistani, she South Korean — who had concealed their relationship from their conservative parents.

Prosecutors said during the trial that Syed was a scorned lover who felt humiliated after Lee broke up with him.

Switzerland signed a controversial contract on Monday to buy 36 US F-35 stealth fighter jets at a cost of more than six billion francs ($6.2 billion). 

“National Armaments Director Martin Sonderegger and the Swiss F-35A Program Manager Darko Savic signed the procurement contract on 19 September 2022 at armasuisse in Bern,” said armasuisse, the country’s arms procurement agency.

“With this, the procurement of 36 F-35A is contractually agreed,” it added.

The selection of the F-35 by the Swiss government in June 2021 sparked some controversy, particularly in light of the cost-overruns of the fighter programme in the United States.

But a Swiss parliamentary investigation did not call into question the selection of the fighter.

The Swiss government and parliament also short-circuited holding a referendum on the plane’s purchase despite enough signatures being collected to put the issue to voters, saying there was not enough time to do so before manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s offer expires.

But Swiss voters had already narrowly approved in September 2020 spending six billion Swiss francs to replace the country’s fleet of ageing F/A-18 Hornets and F-5 Tigers.

The F-35s will be delivered between 2027 and 2030.

Switzerland joins a growing number of European countries which have opted for the stealth multi-role combat aircraft, including Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Poland.

Hurricane Fiona slammed into the Dominican Republic on Monday after knocking out power and causing widespread flooding in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused “catastrophic” damage in the US island territory with some areas receiving more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain.

Fiona made landfall on the eastern edge of the Dominican Republic early Monday packing maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (144 kilometers per hour), the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

“Life-threatening flash and urban flooding is likely for eastern portions of the Dominican Republic,” it said.

The Dominican authorities did not provide any immediate updates on the toll from the storm but local press reports said some coastal towns in the east had experienced flooding with roads washed out.

Ahead of Fiona’s arrival in the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader suspended work on Monday and the island placed 13 of its 32 provinces on red alert.

In Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

Fernando Vera, a resident of the town of Utuado, told US broadcaster NPR his family has never fully recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Maria five years ago.

“We still struggle from the consequences of Maria and it’s kind of difficult knowing we’re going to probably have to start over again,” Vera said.

The governor said Fiona had caused “unprecedented” flooding, including in areas never previously affected. 

“Unfortunately, we expect more rain throughout the island today and tomorrow,” he said.

Most of Puerto Rico, an island of three million people, was without power, but electricity had been restored for about 100,000 customers on Monday, the governor said.

The hurricane has also left around 196,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

– ‘Start over again’ –

Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sunday afternoon as a Category One hurricane, at the lowest end of the five-tier Saffir-Simpson scale.

The storm has caused one fatality — a man who was killed after his house was swept away by flooding in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, when Fiona was still classified as a tropical storm.

US President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Puerto Rico on Sunday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance.

The former Spanish colony became a US territory in the late 19th century before gaining the status of associated free state in 1950.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, a double hit from hurricanes Irma and Maria added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

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