Kuwait frees 10 more Americans in second release in two months

Good-will pardons of 23 people since March is the largest release of US citizens by a single foreign country in years

Adam Boehler, the US envoy for hostage affairs, left, greets military contractor Tony Holden, who was released by Kuwait, at Washington Dulles International Airport on April 30. US State Department via APShow less

Kuwait has released another 10 American detainees, bringing to nearly two dozen the total freed by the country in the past two months, US officials said on Wednesday.

Kuwait’s pardons of 23 Americans since March as a good-will gesture by the US ally was the largest release of US citizens by a single foreign country in years.

The prisoners, men and women, include military contractors and veterans held on drug charges and other offences by Kuwait. Ten were released in March, weeks after a visit to Kuwait by Adam Boehler, who is US President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs.

“We flew out, we sat down with the Kuwaitis and they said, 'Listen, no one’s ever asked before at this level” for the release of the Americans, Mr Boehler said.

The releases were not part of a swap and the US was not asked to give up anything in return.

“They’ve been extremely responsive and their view is the United States is a huge ally. They know it’s a priority for [Mr Trump] to bring Americans home,” Mr Boehler said. “I credit it to the Kuwaiti understanding that we’ve stood up for them historically and they know that these things are important for the President.”

Kuwait is considered a major non-Nato ally of the US. The two countries have had a close military partnership since America launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, with about 13,500 US troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base.

But the country also has detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases for years.

The Americans freed on Wednesday “maintain their innocence and it’s important to note none of these cases had an identified victim, and all of them were built on supposed confessions taken in Arabic without translation”, said a statement from Jonathan Franks, a private consultant working on cases involving American hostages and detainees, who represented nine of the 10 people released. He spent weeks in the country trying to negotiate the releases.

Mr Franks praised the Trump administration for looking “for reasons to bring Americans home” even when they are not designated by the US government has having been wrongfully detained.

“These Americans, mostly veterans, lost years with their families," he said.