British couple held by Taliban for months feared they’d be executed

[ad_1] Caroline Hawley diplomatic correspondent and

Freya Chappell

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/14d0/live/5d341f10-97bf-11f0-af62-91486a511a31.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Reuters Older British couple Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who were released from Taliban detention in Afghanistan, walking through arrivals at Heathrow Airport. Barbie is wearing deep blue headscarf and dress, a bearded Peter is wearing a blue shirt and dark blue bodywarmer." class="sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi"/> Reuters A British couple launched by the Taliban in Afghanistan final week say they have been detained in 10 totally different prisons and at one level thought they'd be executed.

Peter, 80, and spouse Barbie Reynolds, 76, stated it was by no means defined to them why they have been being held, nor why they have been launched.

The couple, who've run a charity programme in Afghanistan for nearly twenty years, arrived again within the UK on Saturday after seven and a half months in detention.

"Good, old style diplomacy" ended their ordeal, Hamish Falconer, minister for the Center East, instructed the BBC, and once more thanked the federal government of Qatar, which helped mediate their launch.

Each suffered well being issues whereas in jail, together with extreme anaemia. Taliban officers maintained they acquired sufficient medical care throughout their detention and that their human rights have been revered.

They have been arrested on 1 February this yr after taking a chartered flight from Kabul to Bamiyan province, along with friend Faye Hall and their translator who were later released .

A spokesperson for the Taliban international ministry, talking after their launch, stated they'd "served their time" however didn't reveal the explanations for his or her detention.

"Now we have loads to course of," Peter Reynolds stated in written remarks despatched to the BBC. "We're forsaking high quality folks, our residence, and all our possessions."

The couple have a deep love of Afghanistan, and have been married there in 1970.

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

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

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/ba19/live/c6e81460-97f7-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.png.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Family handout Freed British couple peter and barbie Reynolds sit with their daughter sarah. On the left, Barbie is wearing a dark dress. A blond haired Sarah is sat in the middle of the two, wearing blue jeans and a white top. On the right sits Peter, he's wearing a traditional Afghan dark top and trousers, with a brown textured waistcoat. All are smiling at the camera." class="sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi"/> Household handout Barbie (left) and Peter (proper) pictured with their daughter, Sarah

One of many prisons Peter and Barbie have been held in was Pul-e-Charkhi, a infamous most safety jail exterior Kabul that's home to some of the most dangerous criminals .

At one level they have been held in basement cells with no home windows for 2 months. For the ultimate weeks of their detention they have been moved above floor, the place they are saying they'd entry to higher meals and have been handled with kindness.

Peter and Barbie have been taken to courtroom round 4 occasions, every time there was no cost.

"Once I was taken to courtroom, I had my ankles and fingers cuffed along with murderers and rapists," Peter stated through e mail.

Additionally they say they're "mystified" by their detention, with Mr Reynolds including that they have been each principally handled with respect however felt "an enormous powerlessness".

He provides: "We have been instructed we have been company. Nevertheless, once I was taken to courtroom, I had my ankles and fingers cuffed along with murderers and rapists."

For his spouse Barbara, the hardest time of her captivity was "seeing my 80-year previous husband struggling to get into the again of a police truck along with his fingers and ankles chained."

"The worst second was being led away and being separated as a pair after 55 years of marriage to my finest pal," Mr Reynolds remembers.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6aa8/live/56b288f0-97f8-11f0-beff-6fe19e0dd9d4.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Family handout Peter on the right of this image is shown after a recent hair cut back in the UK. His beard is trimmed and his hair shorter. His wife, Barbie, stands smiling next to him." class="sc-86c96223-0 fHZDyi"/> Household handout Again within the UK, Peter and Barbie are recovering with household and mates

Since arriving again within the UK, the pair have been looking for new garments and Peter visited a barber.

"To disclose the gentleman behind the wild untamed hair and beard", his household stated.

After almost eight months of "oily and salty" jail meals, Barbie instructed the Sunday Occasions she want to have some salad and marmite, whereas Peter was hankering for baked beans.

Peter and Barbie stated they will not be returning to Afghanistan for now.

"We're assured within the many great Afghans we all know to deliver a couple of optimistic future for his or her nation with out us," they stated.

The UK now not has an embassy in Afghanistan and warns towards all journey to the nation, saying it's "extraordinarily harmful."

In response to the International Workplace: "There's a heightened danger of British nationals being detained in Afghanistan. If you're a British nationwide and you're detained in Afghanistan, you might face months or years of imprisonment."