British couple Peter Reynolds Barbie Reynolds launched by Taliban in Afghanistan
An aged British couple had been launched by the Taliban this week after eight months in captivity.
Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter Reynolds, 80, arrived in Qatar on Friday following months of negotiations between Qatar, the Taliban and Britain.
The couple had lived in Afghanistan for 18 years, the place they ran an training charity.
Regardless of the ordeal, Barbie Reynolds mentioned they might return to Afghanistan if they may. They’re each Afghan residents.
“God is nice, as they are saying in Afghanistan,” she added on the Kabul airport.
The couple, who had been taken into custody in February, had been met by kin, together with their daughter, after they arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Friday.
Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, was clearly emotional and instructed reporters in Qatar, “Thanks for giving us our household again.”
She added that their household could be “endlessly grateful to the Qatari and British governments for standing with us throughout this troublesome time.”
“This expertise has reminded us of the facility of diplomacy, empathy and worldwide cooperation,” she mentioned.
The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, instructed Sky Information from the US that their well being would have began to deteriorate if that they had been held any longer, regardless of Qatar ensuring that they had entry to their physician and medicines throughout their captivity.
United Nations well being consultants had additionally warned that the couple’s captivity might hurt and even kill them.
Their household had accused the Taliban of mistreating the couple, and urged the federal government to clarify why that they had been detained.
Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s minister of state, mentioned he was grateful “for the fruitful cooperation” between the UK and the Taliban in getting the pair launched.
The Taliban claimed that the couple had damaged Afghan legal guidelines with out going into element.
“We’re very grateful that at the very least, right this moment is a really nice humanitarian day, that they are going to be reunited with their household,” Richard Lindsay, Britain’s particular envoy to Afghanistan, mentioned, including that it was “clearly as much as the [Afghanistan] authorities right here to find out why they had been detained.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer added, “I wish to pay tribute to the important position performed by Qatar, together with the emir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom.”
The US pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, leaving the Taliban to return to energy.
