2 Americans freed in Middle East
Iran releases Navy vet; N.H. restaurateur out in Lebanon
WASHINGTON — Two Americans imprisoned in the Middle East were released Thursday, U.S. officials said. One of them is a Navy veteran granted medical furlough as Iran struggles to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that Michael White, imprisoned more than a year ago for insulting Iran’s supreme leader, was released to the Swiss Embassy as part of a furlough that will require him to remain in Iran. The U.S. will work for his full release, Pompeo said.
The other American is Amer Fakhoury, a New Hampshire restaurant owner who had faced decades-old murder and torture charges in Lebanon that he denies. He was ordered released by a judge because more than 10 years had passed since the crimes he was accused of committing.
The Trump administration trumpeted the releases, though done in different countries and for different reasons, as part of its efforts to secure the release of Americans held hostage or imprisoned abroad.
Officials including President Donald Trump used the occasion to name additional Americans they would like to see released, including journalist Austin Tice, who
vanished in Syria in 2012.
“I want to let everyone know that recovering Americans held captive and imprisoned abroad continues to be a top priority for my administration,” Trump said at a news conference.
White’s release, though temporary for the moment, came as Iran has furloughed tens of thousands of prisoners while struggling with the coronavirus, which Iranian officials fear could kill millions of people.
White, of Imperial Beach, Calif., was detained in Iran while visiting a girlfriend there in July 2018. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for insulting Iran’s supreme leader and posting private information; the State Department said he was serving a 13-year sentence. His mother had called for White’s immediate release in an interview with The Associated Press this month, saying she was concerned about the well-being of her son and that he had been battling cancer.
“He is in very good spirits, but has some pretty sustained health conditions that are going to require some attention,” Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, said on a conference call. Hook said White would be evaluated by doctors.
Fakhoury was on his way back to the U.S. after a judge in Lebanon ordered him released.
Fakhoury had been accused of torturing prisoners at a jail run by an Israeli-backed militia two decades ago.
He had been imprisoned since September after returning to Lebanon to visit family.
His case had put a significant strain on already troubled ties between the U.S. and Lebanon. Lawmakers in Washington had threatened to withhold critical aid to the country and impose sanctions on the Lebanese military, which is seen by the Trump administration as a bulwark against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement.
“Any time a U.S citizen is wrongfully detained by a foreign government, we must use every tool at our disposal to free them,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H, who had worked for his release. “I’m very glad that Amer is finally coming home and will be reunited with his family. No family should have to go through what the Fakhoury family has gone through.”
His oldest daughter, Guila Fakhoury, told the AP by phone, “We are so happy. It’s a dream.”
Fakhoury was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma and had been hospitalized in Lebanon. Trump said Fakhoury “will now be able to receive the much-needed care and treatment in the United States.”
“We’ve been working very hard to get him freed, and he’s finally able to have his entire family at his side,” Trump said.
Fakhoury was ordered to be released Monday because more than 10 years had passed since he allegedly tortured prisoners at a jail run by the South Lebanon Army militia. But he was not immediately allowed to leave the country after a Lebanese military judge Tuesday appealed the decision, asking a military tribunal to strike it down.
Hours before Shaheen announced Fakhoury’s release, a U.S. Marine Osprey was seen taking off from the U.S. Embassy compound northeast of Beirut. He was being returned to the U.S. in a State Department medical plane, said Assistant Secretary David Schenker.
Fakhoury was jailed last year after returning to Lebanon on vacation to visit family. Lebanon’s intelligence service said he confessed during questioning to being a warden at Khiam Prison, which was run by the SLA during Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.