Vienna says its nationwide has arrived in Doha after mediation by the Qatari authorities helped safe his launch.
The Taliban has launched Herbert Fritz, an 84-year-old Austrian far-right nationalist, who was arrested in Afghanistan final Could.
The Austrian authorities mentioned in an announcement on Sunday that Fritz arrived in Doha, Qatar earlier within the day after mediation by the Qatari authorities helped to safe his launch.
Fritz was arrested final yr after defying Austria’s long-standing warning towards journey to Afghanistan, which in 2021 returned to the rule of the Taliban.
“I feel it was unhealthy luck however I need to go to once more,” he informed reporters on arrival in Doha, when requested about his ordeal.
“There have been some good individuals however there have been some silly individuals additionally, I’m sorry,” Fritz added, describing his captors.
After his arrest, Austria’s Der Normal newspaper mentioned Fritz had gone to Afghanistan and reported positively on life there. He printed an article titled “Holidays with the Taliban” by way of a far-right media outlet.
This helped gasoline anti-immigration arguments that Afghanistan was a protected nation to which refugees might return, the newspaper mentioned.
The Taliban arrested him on suspicion of spying, and Austrian neo-Nazis made his case public by way of Telegram channels, Der Normal mentioned.
Austria’s Ministry of International Affairs mentioned it had been working to safe Fritz’s launch since Could, and thanked Qatar and the European Union illustration in Kabul for aiding its efforts to result in his return to Austria.
A spokesperson for the Austrian ministry informed the Related Press information company that Fritz had been held in a jail in Kabul.
Writing on X, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer thanked the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his workforce for his or her “sturdy assist in releasing one among our residents from jail in Afghanistan”.
“It is just resulting from our trusted collaboration that this Austrian citizen will be capable of return dwelling to his daughter and grandchildren,” Nehammer mentioned.
Fritz was a founding member of the nation’s Nationwide Democratic Get together (NDP), an excessive proper group banned in 1988, based on Der Normal and different media shops.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Get together, which has been main in opinion polls forward of parliamentary elections due later this yr, had pressed for Fritz’s launch. The celebration has mentioned he was researching a ebook in Afghanistan.
Qatar’s Ministry of International Affairs expressed gratitude on X for the “caretaker authorities in Afghanistan” for releasing the Austrian.
“The State of Qatar has confirmed, regionally and globally, that it’s a trusted worldwide associate in varied vital points,” the ministry mentioned. “It spares no effort in harnessing its vitality and talent within the areas of mediation, preventive diplomacy, and settling disputes via peaceable means.”