WASHINGTON: Pakistan will help as a “moral and humanitarian responsibility” in the ongoing efforts to recover an American hostage Mark Frerichs held by the Afghan Taliban.
This was states by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington spokesperson while responding to a media report that expressed fears that the hasty withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan has dimmed hopes for his release.
US media outlet said that the location of Frerichs, a 58-year-old civil engineer, who was kidnapped in January 2020 from Kabul, is unknown.
“Pakistan has always regarded any assistance it can provide in helping the United States and other foreign countries with the recovery of their hostages from Afghanistan as a moral and humanitarian responsibility,” spokesperson Maliha Shahid said in a statement to ABC News.
The US channel said the US will lose most of whatever leverage it might have to free the hostage after American military and special operations personnel leave Afghanistan.
The report said the options that have been considered for freeing Frerichs include trying to arrange a controversial prisoner exchange involving an Afghan drug lord, asking Pakistan to influence the Haqqani network, or staging a high-risk rescue operation if the hostage can be located. The media report said the hostage rescue option was seen as even less likely than the prisoner exchange.
In her response to the news report, Spokesperson Maliha Shahid, who is a press attache at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington, said that Pakistan had always extended its assistance in recovering hostages “in good faith, and not driven by ‘incentives’ or ‘pressure.’”
She also said that Pakistan has “no evidence to suggest that Mark Frerichs is being held in Pakistan” and that Pakistan “remains committed to play any role it can” to reunite Frerichs with his family.
