ATLANTA — An Atlanta man the Taliban is holding hostage in Afghanistan was left out of a prisoner swap that freed two other Americans.
He’s been in captivity for more than 2 years.
Now, George Glezmann’s wife tells Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne that she is putting her hopes in the new presidential administration.
Aleksandra Glezmann said days before former President Joe Biden left office, the State Department called and said negotiations had ended and had not resulted in a deal to bring her husband home.
But she said she was stunned days later to learn about a prisoner swap that did not include her husband, George.
“I feel really misled by the previous administration. But I’m still really hopeful because I know that Trump’s administration will deal with my husband’s case differently,” Aleksandra Glezmann said.
In the waning hours of the Biden presidency, the administration called Aleksandra Glezmann and told her that Ryan Corbett, who had been her husband’s cellmate, was coming home along with another American in a prisoner swap.
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Her husband George would be left behind and she said no one gave her the reasons behind that outcome.
“Of course, I’m really happy for the Corbett family,” Aleksandra Glezmann said. “I know that the family went through really tough times. The past two years, I’ve been told by the Biden administration and by the State Department that they were working on a group deal that would include both Ryan Corbitt and my husband George.”
Aleksandra Glezmann told Winne that her hopes now turn to the new administration and on its second day, she got a call from a senior Trump administration official expected to play a key role in negotiations for Americans held hostage.
“This just highlighted his commitment to my husband’s case. And I’m really grateful for that,” Aleksandra Glezmann said.
“Just hearing the Taliban is holding more American hostages than has been reported. If this is true, we will have to immediately place a VERY BIG bounty on their top leaders, maybe even bigger than the one we had on Bin Laden,” new Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.
“I think this tweet shows that there will be more firm action this time. And I think this is exactly what we need to bring George home,” Aleksandra Glezmann said.
“We celebrate the release of Ryan Corbett and William McKenty who have been reunited with their families and loved ones, and also thank the Government of Qatar for their assistance. The Trump Administration will continue to demand the release of all Americans held by the Taliban, especially in light of the billions of dollars in U.S. aid they’ve received in recent years,” a US official emailed Winne on Monday.
Aleksandra Glezmann said she was given a letter from her husband soon after he was left behind. It said, in part: “Twenty-six months of mental torture, hoping and then losing hope, trying to keep sanity at bay for no crime committed whatsoever other than holding a U.S. Passport.”
She said she spoke to George by phone on Sunday.
“I just tried to keep his hope and his spirits elevated, which is very difficult to do at this point because George does not have the mental and physical strength to continue this fight,” Aleksandra Glezmann said.
The Associated Press has reported that the Taliban’s ambassador to Qatar said the Afghan government’s policy was to resolve issues peacefully through dialogue.
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