Taliban release British couple
發佈日期: 2025-09-20 20:07
TVB News
An elderly British married couple, who had been detained in Afghanistan by the Taliban for nearly eight months without official charges, were freed with the help of mediation from Qatar.
Peter and Barbie Reynolds had lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades and were reunited with their daughter in Doha.
An Afghanistan government spokesperson says the Taliban had released British couple Peter and Barbie Reynolds who "violated Afghan law".
Barbie Reynolds said: "Friends, like family, are here.God is good, as they say in Afghanistan."
76-year-old Barbie and Eighty-year-old Peter together and free.
Never formally charged in Afghanistan but held for more than seven months.
They said they had been treated well in a country they adore.
The BBC reported the husband and wife were detained because they used an aircraft without permission.
Now, allowed and happy to board this plane and heading for a reunion with their children thanks to Qatar.
The British government sent their appreciation to the Gulf nation.
Richard Lindsay leading the tributes as the Deputy Director, Afghanistan and Pakistan at UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
"We've been incredibly grateful for the government of Qatar - their efforts to help release them from their detention. It is obviously up to the authorities here to determine why they were detained. But we are very grateful that, at least today, is a very great humanitarian day that
they will be reunited with their family."
He was asked if he was clear on what grounds they continued to be held? "They've been released now,", Lindsay said, "I'm not clear what grounds they were held on. No."
And then on to Qatari ground.
Peter leading the way down the steps as the couple, who ran a teaching and training centre in Bamiyan, central Afghanistan, were about to be reunited with their daughter who has campaigned for their release while always at pains to stress her parents were happy living in Afghanistan.
The children had been concerned about their father's health in particular.
When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan four years ago, Peter and Barbie were offered the chance to leave but they said they wanted to stay and help people.
First, the couple will spend time with their family, but say if they can, they would like to return to Afghanistan where they married in 1970.
