The US Department of State’s “Rewards for Justice” program has set a $5 million reward for information on Mahmood Shah Habibi, an Afghan-American citizen.
This program has announced that this amount will be paid for information that leads to the location, recovery, and return of Mahmood Shah Habibi.
A section of the program’s statement reads: “Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the location, recovery, and return of Mahmood Shah Habibi, an American businessman who disappeared in Afghanistan on August 10, 2022.”
Saleem Paigir, a political analyst, stated: “The Islamic Emirate must take positive steps in this area and cooperate with the United States. Since he is a US citizen, the Islamic Emirate should make efforts to find where he is, how he is being held, and whether he is in Afghanistan or not.”
During the previous government, Mahmood Shah Habibi served as the head of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority. According to the provided statements, Habibi, along with some of his colleagues, was detained by intelligence forces in Kabul on Asad 10, 1401 (August 1, 2022), and all detainees except Habibi and one other person have been released.
However, the Islamic Emirate has consistently denied this claim and insisted that Habibi is not in their custody.
Moeen Gul Samkanai, another political analyst, commented: “When Zalmay Khalilzad visited, this issue was also mentioned. Since Mahmood Shah and his group had close ties with the US, it is important to the U.S. Otherwise, many Afghans are detained everywhere and no one cares. But the reward offer, in my opinion, won’t help them at all.”
On the first day of the current solar year, Adam Boehler, the US president’s special representative for hostage affairs, visited Kabul with Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US envoy for Afghan peace. They discussed the release of Habibi and other American hostages with Islamic Emirate officials, after which several Americans including Ryan Corbett, William McEntee, George Golzman, and Fia Hall were released.