A British couple have been freed from months of detention in Afghanistan, to the “immense joy” of their family.
The Taliban released Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband, Peter, 80, after being held for eight months.
They were hugged by their daughter Sarah Entwistle as they stepped off a plane in Doha. The couple were arrested in February as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan. They had been held since then without charge and for a long period were separated and detained in a maximum-security prison.
They had lived in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, and ran a training and education organisation.
Speaking to Sky News at Kabul international airport before boarding a flight to Doha, Barbie Reynolds said she was looking forward to “seeing our children and our families”. Asked if she would return to Afghanistan, she said: “If we can.”
In a statement, their children and grandchildren said: “This is a moment of immense joy for our family.” They also thanked Qatar for its role in negotiating with the Taliban to secure their release. They said they would be “forever grateful to the Qataris for standing with us during this difficult time”.
The statement said: “While the road to recovery will be long as our parents regain their health and spend time with their family, today is a day of tremendous joy and relief.”
Keir Starmer welcomed their release and also thanked Qatar. “I know this long-awaited news will come as a huge relief to them and their family,” he said. “I want to pay tribute to the vital role played by Qatar, including the emir, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, in securing their freedom.”
The minister for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Hamish Falconer, said Qatar had played an essential role in the negotiations. “The government’s ability to help those in need of consular support in Afghanistan is extremely limited. Our travel advice is clear that individuals should not travel to Afghanistan,” he said.
Accompanying the couple in Kabul, Richard Lindsay, the UK special envoy to Afghanistan, told Sky News: “
“It’s up to the authorities here [in Kabul] to determine why they were detained. We’re grateful at least today is a great humanitarian day and they will be reunited with their family.”
Pushed on why they were detained, Lindsay said: “They’ve been released now. I’m not clear what grounds they were held on.”
Asked about their health, he said: “I’m not a doctor, but they are very happy. They are very relieved to be going home, they’re just delighted to be reunited with their family.”
Accompanying the couple in Kabul, Mirdef Ali Alqashouti, a senior Qatari diplomat in Afghanistan, said: “We are very grateful for Afghanistan and UK for their cooperation to conclude this case. It’s a very good moment for us to show our appreciation to make sure that this is the way we deal with problems and conflicts and how to resolve it with good manners and with peaceful solutions.”
In an interview in July with the Guardian, the couple’s son Jonathan Reynolds, who lives in Chicago, said their condition was deteriorating and he feared they would die in prison.
Reynolds said his parents had decided to stay after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, despite the security risks. “They said: ‘How could we possibly leave these people we love in their darkest hour?’ But the warning was, ‘if you stay, you’re on your own’,” Jonathan said. “They knew full well that something like this could happen.
“We’ve counted the cost as a family for that. They have always said, ‘If this does happen, don’t trade us for some terrorist who’s in prison, and don’t pay a penny in ransom money’. But they never told us what they did want us to do, which has been really, really difficult.”
The couple had five children, 17 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, who live in the UK and US. Their eldest son, Simon, died in 1993.
The couple published a book, The Sound of a Trumpet, in 2020, which details their early life as Christian missionaries and their evolving faith. Their Christian background raised fears the Taliban had targeted them for their beliefs.
The family, however, pointed out that they were not aligned to any faith at the time of their arrest.
Their daughter Sarah Entwistle said in March: “Mum and Dad have made it clear in their book that they do not align with any specific organised religion. While their Christian backgrounds are acknowledged, their message transcends labels.”
The couple were among the first to be married in a newly built church in Kabul in 1970. It was demolished three years later.
