The two men – American Kevin King, 63, and Australian Timothy Weeks, 50 – were ambushed at gunpoint while leaving the university in 2016.
Kim HjelmgaardA screen grab of video released on Jan. 11, 2017, by the Taliban of Australian Timothy Weeks, left, and American Kevin King.Two professors from the American University of Afghanistan, of one whom is a U.S. citizen, will be released from Taliban captivity as part of a prisoner exchange with the militant group, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani announced Tuesday.
They last appeared in a video released in 2017 appealing to President Donald Trump to secure their release. In the video, they appear pale and gaunt. Ghani confirmed the deal in a televised speech and said he hoped the move would"pave the way for face-to-face" peace talks with the Taliban. He said the decision was made in coordination with the United States and international community.Three Taliban commanders – Anas Haqqani, Haji Maali Khan and Abdul Rasheed Haqani – were released as part of the agreement, the president said. He did not specify where King and Weeks here being held or when they would be released.
Trump in September abruptly ended months of U.S. peace negotiations with Taliban leaders, who control large parts of Afghanistan, after the group admitted killing a U.S. soldier in a suicide bombing that killed 12 people in total. The cancelled peace talks were due to be held at the U.S. president's country retreat at Camp David, in Maryland, with the Taliban and the Afghan president and aimed at securing a peace deal to end nearly 20 years of war in Afghanistan.
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