Biden: Taliban must release Lombard native Mark Frerichs if it expects legitimacy
Calling the abduction and hostage-taking of Lombard native Mark Frerichs "an act of particular cruelty and cowardice," President Joe Biden on Sunday demanded the Taliban release the Navy veteran from his two years of captivity in Afghanistan.
Biden's statement came on the eve of the kidnapping's two-year anniversary. Frerichs, 59, was working as a civil engineer in Afghanistan when he was lured into a trap and snatched in Kabul on Jan. 31, 2020.
"The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable," Biden said.
"To Mark, and to all the Americans being held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas, and to all their families and friends who are enduring the nightmare of their absence: Know that my administration will continue to work steadfastly until every American being unjustly held against their will comes home," he said.
Frerichs was taken hostage a month before the United States signed a peace deal with the Taliban. U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth have since denounced the decision by then-President Donald Trump's administration to not include Frerichs' release in the deal.
Frerichs' sister, Charlene Cakora, has echoed that criticism, but she's also voiced disappointment with the Biden administration for not making her brother's freedom a higher priority.
But on Sunday, she thanked Biden in a statement obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
"This forceful recognition of Mark's two years in Taliban custody is part of what we have sought from the Administration since they took office," she said. "But what we really want is to have Mark home. We know the President has options in front of him to make that happen and hope Mark's safe return will become a priority for him personally."
The family believes a prisoner exchange with the Taliban may be Frerichs' best hopes for a release.
The Taliban reportedly wants the release of Bashir Noorzai in exchange for Frerichs. A convicted drug lord, Noorzai was arrested on heroin drug trafficking charges in 2005 and sentenced to life in U.S. prison four years later. As early as 1990, Noorzai had a network of distributors in New York City who sold his heroin, federal prosecutors said at the time.
Biden's full statement on Mark Frerichs
Two years ago tomorrow, U.S. Navy veteran Mark Frerichs was taken hostage in Afghanistan. A civil engineer, he spent a decade helping the people of Afghanistan. He has done nothing wrong. And yet, for two years the Taliban has held him captive.
Mark is a native of Illinois. A son. A brother. And his family has now endured two gut-wrenching years - praying for his safety, wondering where and how he is, aching for his return.
Threatening the safety of Americans or any innocent civilians is always unacceptable, and hostage-taking is an act of particular cruelty and cowardice. The Taliban must immediately release Mark before it can expect any consideration of its aspirations for legitimacy. This is not negotiable.
To Mark, and to all the Americans being held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas, and to all their families and friends who are enduring the nightmare of their absence: know that my administration will continue to work steadfastly until every American being unjustly held against their will comes home.