IEA envoy to Qatar warns US Secretary of State against bounty threat

Suhail Shaheen, ambassador of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in Qatar, on Monday warned the new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio against making threats after saying he would place bounties on Afghanistan’s rulers for their continued detention of U.S. nationals.

A prisoner swap between the U.S. and Afghanistan last week freed two Americans in exchange for an IEA figure, Khan Muhammad.

The deal to release Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty was brokered by Joe Biden ’s administration before he left office.

“Just hearing the Taliban (IEA) is holding more American hostages than has been reported,” Rubio said in a post on X Saturday.

“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 (Osama) bin Laden.”

The IEA’s ambassador to Qatar, Suhail Shaheen, said it was the policy of the Afghan government to resolve issues peacefully through dialogue, and he fired a warning shot at Rubio, the Associated Press reported.

“In the face of pressure and aggression, the jihad (struggle) of the Afghan nation in recent decades is a lesson that everyone should learn from,” he said.

Shaheen said the recent release of another foreigner, Canadian David Lavery, from an Afghan jail had been achieved through mediation by the “friendly country of Qatar” and positive interactions with the IEA on such cases.

Earlier Monday, Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said she had spoken with Lavery upon his arrival in Qatar.

“He is in good spirits,” Joly wrote on X, thanking Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani for helping facilitate Lavery’s release.