Mark Frerichs, a contractor from Lombard, poses in Iraq in this undated photo.
AP Photos
The White House early Monday confirmed details of a deal leading to the release of hostage Mark Frerichs, raised in Lombard and held in Afghanistan for more than two years by the Taliban.
Frerichs, a Navy veteran who spent more than a decade in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor, was abducted in January 2020 and was believed to have been held since then by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.
President Joe Biden called Frerichs’ sister, Charlene Cakora, who lives in the western suburb, early Monday, the family said.
Cakora spoke briefly to the Sun-Times at her home Monday afternoon.
Charlene Cakora said she got the news when her cellphone rang at 3:36 a.m. Monday, and the president was on the line.
“I was just in awe. I was stunned, very happy, very happy, but right now we just need time to process this,” she said from her home in Lombard, an American flag and a POW/MIA flag waving in the wind in her front yard.
“It was very brief, just getting to the point, because, you know, he was at the queen’s funeral. But he was really brief and sweet and just basically said that my brother is pretty much lucky to have me as a sister,” she said.
“We were close, still are, always have been,” she said of her relationship with her brother, who’s two years older.
“I’ve been having my phone next to me and had little sleep for the past two and a half years. I’m alert to the phone every time it rings. Even during the day, I’ve got it with me all the time, and I’m not like that,” she said.
The next move, she said, is up to her brother.
“It’s all up to Mark, what he wants to do. We don’t even know if he’s going to be going to Germany yet. Right now he’s on safe ground, and it’s up to him what he wants to do,” she said.
“I haven’t even talked to him, and he hasn’t even had 24 hours to process being on safe lands right now, so he’s still trying to process this,” she said.
She said she’s been receiving a lot of calls from friends of her brother, who are relieved and want more information.
Cakora said it has been a happy and exhausting day.
“I think I can sleep tonight,” she said with a laugh.
On Monday, Biden stated: “I spoke with Mark’s sister today to share the good news and express how happy I am for Mark’s family. Bringing the negotiations that led to Mark’s freedom to a successful resolution required difficult decisions, which I did not take lightly. Our priority now is to make sure Mark receives a healthy and safe return and is given the space and time he needs to transition back into society.
“My administration continues to prioritize the safe return of all Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, and we will not stop until they are reunited with their families. We have much more work to do in many other cases, but Mark’s release demonstrates our enduring commitment. Like our work to free Americans held in Burma, Haiti, Russia, Venezuela and elsewhere, it is our duty to do all we can to bring our people home.”
A White House official confirmed Frerichs was freed in a swap involving a Talban drug lord imprisoned in the U.S., telling the Chicago Sun-Times: “In order to bring home a U.S. citizen and reunite him with his family, the president made the difficult decision to grant clemency to Haji Bashir Noorzai after he spent 17 years in U.S. government custody.
“We will continue to work intensively — using a wide range of tools – to bring home all Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, and Mark’s successful release is evidence of our commitment.”
Frerichs had last been seen in a video distributed earlier this year, pleading for his release so that he can be reunited with his family, according to a recording posted by The New Yorker magazine at the time.
A spokesman for the family, Eric Lebson, a former national security official who has been advising the Frerichs family, said Monday that Frerichs is “in Doha right now getting a medical checkup. He was able to walk to the plane in Kabul.”
Cakora stated: “I am so happy to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home to us. Our family has prayed for this each day of the more than 31 months he has been a hostage. We never gave up hope that he would survive and come home safely to us.
“We are grateful to President Biden, Secretary Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and Sens. Duckworth and Durbin for their efforts to free Mark. Sen. Duckworth got personally involved — advocating tirelessly within our government to get him home.
“My brother is alive and safe because President Biden took action. There were some folks arguing against the deal that brought Mark home, but President Biden did what was right. He saved the life of an innocent American veteran.
“We also want to thank the countless people at the State Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Council who worked diligently to support us and push other elements of the U.S. government to make Mark’s safe return a priority. Ambassador Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, was personally involved after Mark was taken, and his efforts to raise Mark’s profile in both the Trump and Biden administrations were important factors in today’s result.”
Lebson stated: “Everything about this case has been an uphill fight. Initially the Trump administration gave away our leverage to get Mark home quickly by signing a peace accord with the Taliban without ever having asked them to return Mark first. Mark’s family then had to navigate two administrations, where many people viewed Mark’s safe return as an impediment to their plans for Afghanistan.
“There was a small group of dedicated folks — both in government and outside – who worked hard to keep Mark’s name in the news, created options and helped get a decision in front of President Biden. Mark is free today because there are people who truly want to bring Americans home from hostage or wrongful detention abroad, and President Biden has shown he is among that group.”
The Illinois senators, Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, both Democrats, have been working for Frerichs’ release, pressing the Trump and Biden administrations for his return.
“It’s a profound relief that Mark Frerichs, a Navy veteran who served our nation honorably, is now safely back in American hands after being kidnapped in Afghanistan more than two and a half years ago,” Duckworth stated. “I’m thrilled that his family, who have long been Mark’s champions, will get to reunite with him. I applaud President Biden, who I spoke with personally about the need to get Mark home, for taking the steps necessary to prove that we do not leave Americans behind.”
Stated Durbin: “I am deeply heartened by Mark’s long overdue release and the relief it will bring to him and his family. The tragic and cruel use of him as a hostage has finally come to an end. I want to thank President Biden and his team for their tireless effort to secure Mark’s release and regular engagement with us and his family along the way.”
In Afghanistan, Noorzai told reporters at a news conference that he had been released from an unspecified U.S. prison and handed over earlier in the day to the Taliban in Kabul, in exchange for an American prisoner held in Afghanistan whom he did not identify.
Other Taliban officials claimed Noorzai was held at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
The Taliban-appointed foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, also spoke at the news conference alongside Noorzai and welcomed the exchange, saying it marked the start of a “new era” in U.S.-Taliban relations.
“This can be a new chapter between Afghanistan and the United States. This can open a new door for talks between both countries,” Muttaqi said at the Kabul news conference.
“This act shows us that all problems can be solved through talks, and I thank both sides’ teams who worked so hard for this to happen,” Muttaqi added.
Since its takeover of Afghanistan in August last year, the Taliban have demanded the United States release Noorzai in exchange for Frerichs amid expectations of such exchanges for U.S. citizens held in Afghanistan.
However, there has been no public sign of Washington moving forward on any sort of prisoner trade or exchange.
The Taliban also posted a brief video Monday on social media showing Noorzai’s arrival at the Kabul airport where he was welcomed by top Taliban officials, including Muttaqi.
At the news conference, Noorzai expressed thankfulness at seeing his “mujahedeen brothers” — a reference to the Taliban — in Kabul.
“I pray for more success of the Taliban,” he added. “I hope this exchange can lead to peace between Afghanistan and America, because an American was released, and I am also free now.”
Contributing: Associated Press
from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/WfP7RG3
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