FIRST ON FOX: Hostage envoy Adam Boehler met in person with Taliban officials at the Kabul International Airport, Qatari sources told Fox News Digital, marking the first known time the White House has engaged with Afghanistan’s “interim government” following the 2021 takeover by the terrorist organization.
While the meeting between Boehler and Afghan officials representing the Taliban’s foreign ministry met to secure the release of George Glezmann on Thursday, advisor and spokesman to Qatar’s prime minister, Dr Majed al-Ansari, told Fox News Digital that other “beneficial” issues were discussed.
“U.S. envoy Adam Boehler came to Doha. He had meetings over here, and then we moved to Kabul, where he had meetings in the airport with the foreign minister and other Afghan officials,” al-Ansari said. “That was the first meeting of its kind and opened the door for a lot of dialogue on lots of issues, including the issues of detainees.”
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“But also other issues that can be very beneficial for the Afghan people and for the people of the United States, and providing security regionally for Afghanistan, but also in general,” he added. “It was a good first step that we helped facilitate.”
The White House did not return Fox News Digital’s questions on whether Boehler’s in-person meeting suggests the Trump administration may look to establish ties with the Taliban government – a subject that has been taboo among Western nations following the toppling of the democratically elected government and the subsequent severe human rights violations, including the removal of essentially all women’s rights.
Al-Ansari confirmed that while Qatar has been working with the U.S. since 2022 to facilitate dialogue between Washington and Kabul in the more than three years since the deadly takeover, this is the first time the White House has directly engaged with the Taliban government.
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“We always said that the way to resolve all of these issues all around the world is through dialog, is through talking, and is through beginning a mode of engagement that is positive and that would bring about more trust between the parties, and would bring about positive results,” al-Ansari added, nodding toward Qatar’s heavy involvement in negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Boehler, who has not been confirmed by the Senate after he removed his nomination as special envoy to avoid divestment stipulations, serves as a “special government employee focused on hostage negotiations,” according to a statement by White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly.
The freedom of Glezmann is the second major release Boehler secured this month after Marc Fogel was returned from Russia following his August 2021 arrest.
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Boehler, who helped secure the Abraham Accords as a lead negotiator during the first Trump administration, turned heads following the revelation that he met with another terrorist organization earlier this month – Hamas.
The hostage envoy met directly with Hamas officials in an attempt to secure the release of the five American hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, including Edan Alexander, who is the only remaining American hostage still alive.
