Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
International

Taliban Says It Released Canadian Hostage On Humanitarian Grounds

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 12 Jan, 2016 11:33 AM
  • Taliban Says It Released Canadian Hostage On Humanitarian Grounds
A Canadian man held hostage by the Taliban for five years was freed for humanitarian reasons, his captors claimed Tuesday, as dramatic details of his release emerged.
 
Colin Rutherford was on a private vacation in Afghanistan when he was seized by the Taliban in November 2010.
 
His release was abruptly announced on Monday in a brief statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion, who would only say that efforts to free Rutherford had involved the government of Qatar.
 
The Taliban confirmed Qatar's involvement in a statement released Tuesday, but also elaborated on why Rutherford had been let go.
 
It said Rutherford was freed "on grounds of humanitarian sympathy and sublime Islamic ethics."
 
The Taliban statement also said Rutherford had been detained in Afghanistan's northeastern Ghazni province.
 
The Canadian Embassy in Kabul has not yet revealed Rutherford's current whereabouts and it wasn't immediately clear if he had been flown out of Afghanistan.
 
But an Afghani official divulged a few details of Rutherford's release a day after it took place.
 
Police chief Gen. Aminullah Amarkhil said it involved a helicopter landing to scoop Rutherford to freedom as fighter jets flew overhead.
 
Amarkhil added that Rutherford had been released at 11 a.m. on Monday in Ghazni province's remote Giro district.
 
The involvement of Qatar in Rutherford's release is not entirely surprising. The Persian Gulf country has at times quietly played mediator between western governments and the Taliban — even helping to facilitate peace negotiations between governments in Kabul and the hardline insurgency.
 
The Taliban have openly maintained a political office in the capital of Doha since 2013.
 
The last indication Rutherford's family had that he was alive came in a 2011 video released by insurgents where he answered questions; an accompanying email accused Rutherford, then 26, of being a spy.
 
In the video, Rutherford, who is from Toronto, insisted he was not a spy and had travelled to Afghanistan to study historical sites, old buildings and shrines.
 
Rutherford's brother has called the Canadian's release "incredible news."
 
"It absolutely is an enormous relief," Brian Rutherford said in a message to The Canadian Press. "My deepest gratitude to all those whose efforts have aided in Colin's safe release."
 
Rutherford was working as an auditor with the Canadian Circulations Audit Board in Toronto when he went on vacation to Afghanistan.

MORE International ARTICLES

US Central Bank Raises Interest Rates By 0.25 Points

US Central Bank Raises Interest Rates By 0.25 Points
For the first time in nearly a decade, America's central bank, the US Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate on Wednesday from a range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent.

US Central Bank Raises Interest Rates By 0.25 Points

The Cost Of Power: Presidents, Prime Ministers May Age Quicker And Die Sooner, New Study Says

The Cost Of Power: Presidents, Prime Ministers May Age Quicker And Die Sooner, New Study Says
Leading a country comes with extraordinary privileges but also, apparently, a price: new research suggests that heads of state age faster than normal and that the stress of the job may shave almost three years off their life expectancy.

The Cost Of Power: Presidents, Prime Ministers May Age Quicker And Die Sooner, New Study Says

Canadian Sentenced To Nine Months For Smuggling Immigrants Into The U.S.

Canadian Sentenced To Nine Months For Smuggling Immigrants Into The U.S.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Albany says 29-year-old Christopher Square of Kahnawake (kah-nah-WAH'-kee), Que., was sentenced to nine months in prison.

Canadian Sentenced To Nine Months For Smuggling Immigrants Into The U.S.

Case Of Canadian Teen Charged In Florida Double Murder Put Over To February

Case Of Canadian Teen Charged In Florida Double Murder Put Over To February
The 15-year-old, originally from Ottawa, is the son of longtime diplomat Roxanne Dube, Canada's former consul general to Miami.

Case Of Canadian Teen Charged In Florida Double Murder Put Over To February

Troops On The Canadian Border: U.S. President Candidate Ben Carson Calls For Some

Troops On The Canadian Border: U.S. President Candidate Ben Carson Calls For Some
WASHINGTON — A U.S. presidential candidate has called for troops along the Canadian border, as the American election becomes consumed by national-security fears.

Troops On The Canadian Border: U.S. President Candidate Ben Carson Calls For Some

Seattle Becomes First US City To Give Uber, Lyft Drivers The Right To Unionize

SEATTLE — The latest on the Seattle City Council's decision on whether to allow drivers of ride-hailing companies to unionize (all times local):

Seattle Becomes First US City To Give Uber, Lyft Drivers The Right To Unionize