British couple son run by the Taliban “ecstatic” as they return to the United Kingdom

The son of a British couple owned by the Taliban in Afghanistan for almost eight months said that he was “exceeded” by their release.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife Barbie, 76, who lived in Afghanistan for almost two decades, should go to the United Kingdom on Saturday after being found with their daughter in Qatar.

Jonathan Reynolds told BBC Radio 4 Teday program that he was “ecstatic and massively grateful” to those involved in securing their release.

The Taliban, who owned the couple on the way back on February 1, said that the pair had broken Afghan laws and had been released after legal proceedings – but that the Islamist group has never revealed their detention.

On Friday, there were emotional scenes when the couple’s daughter, Sarah Entwistle, met her parents when they left the plane in Doha.

“We are impatient to return to Afghanistan if we can. We are Afghan citizens,” Barbie told Agency France-Press at Kabul airport after Qatar negotiation negotiations for their release.

Their son Jonathan echoes these hopes, saying that “their desire would be to continue to live there and do the work they did”.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the “vital role” played by Qatar in the guarantee of their release.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds were married in Kabul in 1970 and spent the last 18 years leading a charitable training program that had been approved by local Taliban officials when the armed group recovered power in 2021.

“They don’t only have a heart for the inhabitants of Afghanistan, but they also have a strategy, and the work they have done was very successful and has a massively positive impact,” Jonathan told BBC.

He said a few weeks ago, he managed to share the results of “really encouraging” reports on their programs with his parents by phone.

He said that Barbie’s initial reaction had been that they had “more work to do”.

“But how do you do this in a country where you are not welcome,” added Jonathan.

Their affection for Afghanistan was demonstrated by their decision to stay in the province of Bamiyan after the authoritarian regime took control in August 2021, while many other Westerners left.

The liberation of the couple follows months of public lobbying by their families, who described the painful conditions of their detention.

Jonathan said in July that his father had suffered from serious convulsions and that his mother was “numb” for anemia and malnutrition.

A head of Qatari told the BBC that the couple had been transferred from Kabul central prison to a wider establishment with better conditions during the last stage of negotiations during his release.

Taliban officials argued that they had received adequate medical care during their detention and that their human rights were respected.

The couple received medical checks in the Qatari capital, Doha, before leaving for London. They will arrive on a commercial flight on Saturday morning, reports AFP.

The United Kingdom does not recognize the Taliban government and closed its embassy in Kabul when the group returned to power.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims that support for British nationals in Afghanistan is therefore “severely limited” and advises all trips to the country.