DOHA: An elderly British couple released after almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan are expected to fly back to the UK on Saturday.
Taliban authorities arrested Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, in February as they were returning to their home in Bamiyan province, central Afghanistan.
Following concerns for their health, the pair were freed on Friday and flown to the Qatari capital Doha.
They are expected to leave for London on a commercial flight on Saturday after completing medical checks.
The Reynoldses married in Kabul in 1970 and have spent almost two decades living in Afghanistan, running educational programmes for women and children. They also became Afghan citizens.
When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they remained in Afghanistan against the advice of the British embassy.
The Taliban have not explained why the pair were detained, and Qatar brokered the negotiations for their release.
Speaking on the tarmac at Kabul airport on Friday, Barbie Reynolds said the couple had been treated well and were "looking forward to seeing our children".
"We are looking forward to returning to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens," she added.
They were embraced by family members on arriving in Doha, with their daughter Sarah Entwistle telling AFPTV she was "overwhelmed with gratitude and relief".
The couple were first held in a maximum security facility, "then in underground cells, without daylight, before being transferred" to the intelligence services in Kabul, UN experts have said.
In July, independent UN human rights experts called on the Taliban government to free them, warning that they risked "irreparable harm or even death" as their health deteriorated.
The couple's family had made repeated pleas for their release, citing their failing health.
Taliban foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said on Friday that the couple "had violated the laws of Afghanistan" and were released from custody "following the judicial process".
The Reynolds' four children hailed their parents' release but said they face a "long" recovery.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "long-awaited news will come as a huge relief" to the family.
The British government advises citizens against travelling to Afghanistan, warning that its ability to offer consular assistance is "extremely limited".
Russia is the only country to have officially recognised the Taliban government, which has imposed a strict version of Islamic law and been accused of sweeping human rights violations.
Dozens of foreign nationals have been arrested since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 following the NATO pullout.
Elderly British couple to fly home after release by Taliban
https://arab.news/9aneg
Elderly British couple to fly home after release by Taliban
- Taliban authorities arrested Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, in February as they were returning to their home in Bamiyan province
- Following concerns for their health, the pair were freed on Friday and flown to the Qatari capital Doha
Hong Kong election turnout in focus amid anger over deadly fire
- Security tight as city holds legislative elections
- Residents angry over blaze that killed at least 159
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s citizens were voting on Sunday in an election where the focus is on turnout, with residents grieving and traumatized after the city’s worst fire in nearly 80 years and the authorities scrambling to avoid a broader public backlash.
Security was tight in the northern district of Tai Po, close to the border with mainland China, where the fire engulfed seven towers. The city is holding elections for the Legislative Council, in which only candidates vetted as “patriots” by the China-backed Hong Kong government may run.
Residents are angry over the blaze that killed at least 159 people and took nearly two days to extinguish after it broke out on November 26. The authorities say substandard building materials used in renovating a high-rise housing estate were responsible for fueling the fire.
Eager to contain the public dismay, authorities have launched criminal and corruption investigations into the blaze, and roughly 100 police patrolled the area around Wang Fuk Court, the site of the fire, early on Sunday.
A resident in his late 70s named Cheng, who lives near the charred buildings, said he would not vote.
“I’m very upset by the great fire,” he said during a morning walk. “This is a result of a flawed government ... There is not a healthy system now and I won’t vote to support those pro-establishment politicians who failed us.”
Cheng declined to give his full name, saying he feared authorities would target those who criticize the government.
At a memorial site near the burned-out residential development, a sign said authorities plan to clear the area after the election concludes close to midnight, suggesting government anxiety over public anger.
Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong has said it would crack down on any “anti-China” protest in the wake of the fire and warned against using the disaster to “disrupt Hong Kong.”
China’s national security office in Hong Kong warned senior editors with a number of foreign media outlets at a meeting in the city on Saturday not to spread “false information” or “smear” government efforts to deal with the fire.
The blaze is a major test of Beijing’s grip on the former British colony, which it has transformed under a national security law after mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
An election overhaul in 2021 also mandated that only pro-Beijing “patriots” could run for the global financial hub’s 90-seat legislature and, analysts say, further reduced the space for meaningful democratic participation.
Publicly inciting a vote boycott was criminalized as part of the sweeping changes that effectively squeezed out pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong. Pro-democracy voters, who traditionally made up about 60 percent of Hong Kong’s electorate, have since shunned elections.
The number of registered voters for Sunday’s polls — 4.13 million — has dropped for the fourth consecutive year since 2021, when a peak of 4.47 million people were registered.
Seven people had been arrested as of Thursday for inciting others not to vote, the city’s anti-corruption body said.
Hong Kong and Chinese officials have stepped up calls for people to vote.
“We absolutely need all voters to come out and vote today, because every vote represents our push for reform, our protection of the victims of disaster, and a representation of our will to unite and move forward together,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said after casting his vote.
Hong Kong’s national security office urged residents on Thursday to “actively participate in voting,” saying it was critical in supporting reconstruction efforts by the government after the fire.
“Every voter is a stakeholder in the homeland of Hong Kong,” the office said in a statement. “If you truly love Hong Kong, you will vote sincerely.”
The last Legislative Council elections in 2021 recorded the lowest voter turnout — 30.2 percent — since Britain returned Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997.
