The Taliban on Tuesday released a US citizen who had been detained in Afghanistan for more than a year, with the UAE playing a role in his return.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio credited the UAE for its help in securing the release of researcher Dennis Coyle, 64, who was taken from his home in Kabul in January 2025 and held without charges in near-solitary confinement. He flew on an Emirati private jet into Abu Dhabi before transferring for a flight back to the US.
“The ministry conveyed its appreciation to the United States and Afghanistan for the confidence placed in the UAE and for selecting it as the venue for the release operation,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Mr Rubio also thanked Qatar for its “continued support and advocacy for Americans unjustly detained in Afghanistan”. The Taliban have long had a presence in Doha and Qatar serves as the “protecting power” for US diplomatic interests in Afghanistan, as Washington does not recognise the hardline group.
The Taliban said it had released Mr Coyle in response to a request from his mother. She had written to them asking for her son to be pardoned and released on the occasion of Eid Al Fitr, after which the Supreme Court of Afghanistan “deemed the period of his detention sufficient and decided to release him”.
Mr Coyle appeared at a brief news conference in Kabul after his release and was flanked by former US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and UAE ambassador to Kabul Saif Al Ketbi.
Mr Khalilzad, who played a key role in negotiating the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, was not representing the American government.
Mr Rubio this month designated Afghanistan's Taliban government as a “state sponsor of wrongful detention”, demanding that Kabul release all US citizens detained in the country.
He said Mr Coyle's release was a “positive step” by the Taliban.
But “more work needs to be done”, he added. “We are still seeking the immediate return of Mahmood Habibi, Paul Overby and all other unjustly detained Americans,” he said. “The Taliban must end their practice of hostage diplomacy.”
Mr Overby, a writer, disappeared in Khost Province in eastern Afghanistan in 2014, on his way to Waziristan, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Mr Habibi is an American businessman who was detained in August 2022 while working for a Kabul-based telecoms firm.
