Washington approved the exchange of an American citizen and a senior Taliban official

The United States on Monday approved the release of American engineer Mark Fricks in exchange for senior Taliban figure Haji Bashir Nurzai, a senior Biden administration official said on Monday.

According to this official, Biden pardoned Noorzi after 17 years of detention in America.

Amir Khan Motaghi, acting foreign minister of the Taliban, announced on Monday that Bashir Nowrozi, the last Taliban prisoner in Guantanamo Bay, was released in exchange for American citizen Mark Fricks.

In the press conference held to announce the release of Bashir Norzai by the US, Motaghi stated that his exchange with the American citizen Mark Fricks will help to solve the problems between Afghanistan and the United States.

Motaghi stressed the need for negotiation to solve the issues and said: pressure and war do not work.

He said the release of Bashir Nowrozi, the last Guantanamo detainee, during the prisoner exchange with the United States, opens a new page in relations with the United States.

According to Sada Afghan news agency (Ava), Bashir Nurzai, one of the people close to Mullah Mohammad Omar, the founder of the Taliban and the last Afghan prisoner in Guantanamo, arrived in Kabul this morning. Nurzi was one of the biggest money changers in southern Afghanistan who had created a large network for currency exchange and remittances during the previous Taliban rule. Nowrozi was also one of the former jihadi commanders who became famous due to his relationship with Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader and founder of the Taliban, and was considered one of its financial supporters during the rule of this group in Afghanistan.

Noorzi, who was the last Afghan prisoner in Guantanamo, was arrested by the American police in New York in 2005 on charges of drug trafficking and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The American government had repeatedly demanded the release of American veteran Mark Frericks by the Taliban.