A British couple freed by the Taliban after being detained for nearly eight months have emotionally reunited with their son, participating leverages after landing in Qatar.
Peter Reynolds, 80, and his woman
Barbie, 76, who lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, were on their way home when they were stopped on 1 February.
The couple were released on Friday morning through Qatari agreement, and latterly landed in Doha where they were met by their son. After medical checks they will travel to the UK, despite their long- term home being in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan fiefdom.
The Taliban said the brace had broken Afghan laws and were released after judicial proceedings but has noway bared the reason for their detention.
There were emotional scenes in Doha as the couple’s son, Sarah Entwistle, met her parents as they stepped off of the aeroplane
. They participated long leverages before walking together towards the field structure.
Shortly after landing in Doha, Mrs Reynolds said it was” awful to be then”. The couple were also seen chatting Qatari and British representatives.
Before her parents landed, Ms Entwistle told journalists she most lately spoke to them last Saturday and they were” ready to come home”.
before, the family said they were” overwhelmed with gratefulness and relief” at the couple’s release.
They said it was” a moment of immense joy”, adding in a statement that they were” deeply thankful to everyone who played a part in securing their release”.
” While the road to recovery will be long as our parents recapture their health and spend time with their family, moment is a day of tremendous joy and relief.”
The family paid particular homage to the” unvarying support” of the Qatari intercessors, as well as the politic sweats of the UK government and the support of the US and the UN.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the once 18 times running a charitable training programme that had been approved by original Taliban officers when the fortified group reclaimed power in 2021.
They’ve been described by family as having a lifelong love of Afghanistan, illustrated by their decision to remain there after the authoritarian governance seized control in August 2021, when numerous other Westerners left.
Their release follows months of public prompting by their family, who have described the harrowing conditions of their detention.
The couple’s son, Jonathan Reynolds, said in July that his father had been suffering serious storms and his mama was” numb” from anaemia and malnutrition.
” My pater was chained to man slayers and culprits,” he said at the time, adding that they had at one point been held in a basement for six weeks without sun.
Replying to the news of their release on Friday, Mr Reynolds told BBC Breakfast” I can not stay to put my arms around them and give them a clinch.”
Ms Entwistle preliminary said her father had suffered amini-stroke, while the UN advised that without medical care the couple were at threat of irrecoverable detriment.
Just six days gone an American woman who was detained with them and latterly released told the BBC they had been” literally dying” in captivity and that” time is running out”.
Faye Hall, who was let go two months into her detention, stressed that the senior couple’s health had deteriorated fleetly while in captivity.
A Qatari functionary told the BBC the couple were moved from Kabul’s central captivity to a larger installation with better conditions during the final stage of accommodations over their release.
The functionary also said the Qatari legacy in Kabul had handed them with drug, access to a croakier
and means of communicating with their family while in captivity.
Taliban officers maintained they entered acceptable medical care in captivity and their mortal rights were admired.
The UK does n’t honour the Taliban government and closed its delegacy in Kabul when the group returned to power.
The Foreign Office says support for British citizens in Afghanistan is thus” oppressively limited” and advises against all trip to the country.
A Taliban functionary said Peter and Barbie Reynolds were handed over to the UK’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Lindsay, who was pictured with the couple aboard their flight to Qatar.
The UK’s Middle East minister Hamish Falconer said he was relieved that the brace had now been freed, adding” I look forward to them being reunited with their family soon.”
He said the UK had” worked intensely” to secure their release, while Qatar” played an essential part in this case, for which I’m monstrously thankful”.
