WASHINGTON DC: The White House thanked Qatar on Monday for its assistance in the release of American citizen Mark Frerichs, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan in 2020, Qatar News Agency reported.
“We are particularly grateful for Qatar’s assistance in this and, frankly, many other matters. We anticipate that the Secretary of State will speak with his Qatari counterpart to convey those thanks,” a White House senior administration official said at a press conference.
The official stated that Frerichs arrived in Doha safely and that he is receiving proper care.
According to the US State Department, the navy veteran was abducted in 2020 while working as a civil engineer for construction projects in Afghanistan.
After extensive negotiations, the US and Afghanistan reached a prisoner swap agreement in which Afghanistan agreed to release Frerichs in exchange for an Afghani tribal leader named Bashir Noorzai, who had been held by the US since 2005.
