British couple held by Taliban arrive in UK after launch

A British couple detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan for almost eight months have arrived again within the UK after being launched.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his spouse Barbie, 76, who lived in Afghanistan for almost 20 years, landed at Heathrow Airport from Qatar on Saturday.

They’d been reunited with their daughter in Doha the day earlier than. Their son, Jonathan Reynolds, informed the BBC that he was “ecstatic and massively grateful” to those that have been concerned in securing their launch.

The Taliban, who had detained the couple from 1 February, stated the pair had damaged Afghan legal guidelines and have been launched after judicial proceedings – however the Islamist group has by no means disclosed a motive for his or her detention.

The couple’s launch follows months of public lobbying by their household, who’ve described the harrowing circumstances of their detention.

Jonathan beforehand highlighted his father’s coronary heart issues and stated he had suffered severe convulsions in jail, whereas his mom had been “numb” from anaemia and malnutrition.

“We had begun to suppose that we might by no means be launched, or that we have been even being held till we have been executed,” Peter informed the Sunday Occasions in an interview after arriving again within the UK.

“Even once we have been taken to Kabul airport [to fly to Qatar], we thought perhaps we have been simply flying someplace for medical remedy,” Barbie stated.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the previous 18 years operating a charitable coaching programme that had been permitted by native Taliban officers when the armed group reclaimed energy in 2021.

There have been emotional scenes on Friday because the couple’s daughter, Sarah Entwistle, met her dad and mom as they stepped off the aircraft in Doha.

Barbie has expressed a want to return to Afghanistan – regardless of their remedy by the hands of the Taliban – although maybe not within the quick future.

Jonathan echoed these hopes, telling the BBC: “They haven’t only a coronary heart for the folks of Afghanistan, however they’ve technique as nicely, and the work they have been doing has been very fruitful and has a massively constructive impression.”

He stated just a few weeks in the past he had managed to share the outcomes of “actually encouraging” studies about their programmes along with his dad and mom over the telephone.

He stated Barbie’s preliminary response had been that they’d “extra work to do”.

“However how do you do this in a rustic the place you are not welcome?”

Since 2009, the couple have been operating coaching initiatives in Kabul and Bamiyan.

One in every of their schooling initiatives concerned coaching girls and youngsters, and had apparently been permitted by native authorities, regardless of a Taliban ban on girls working and schooling for women over 12-years-old.

Their affection for Afghanistan was demonstrated by their choice to stay in Bamiyan province after the authoritarian regime seized management in August 2021, whereas many different Westerners left – together with most of their workers.

Again within the UK, after almost eight months of “oily and salty” jail meals, Barbie informed the Sunday Occasions she wish to have some salad and marmite, whereas Peter was hankering for baked beans.

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer praised the “important position” performed by Qatar in securing their launch.

A Qatari official informed the BBC the couple have been moved from Kabul’s central jail to a bigger facility with higher circumstances in the course of the ultimate stage of negotiations over their launch.

The couple obtained medical checks in Doha earlier than leaving for London.

Taliban officers maintained they obtained ample medical care throughout their detention and that their human rights have been revered.

The UK doesn’t recognise the Taliban authorities and closed its embassy in Kabul when the group returned to energy.

The International Workplace says assist for British nationals in Afghanistan is due to this fact “severely restricted” and advises in opposition to all journey to the nation.