Kuwait recently released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors who had been imprisoned for years on drug charges, in a move seen as a goodwill gesture between the two allies.
The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the special envoy for hostage issues under President Donald Trump’s administration, and comes as the administration continues to push to bring back American citizens held in foreign countries.
The six freed prisoners flew from Kuwait to New York accompanied by Jonathan Franks, a personal consultant who specializes in cases involving American hostages and detainees and was in Kuwait to help facilitate their release.
“My clients and their families are deeply grateful for this kind humanitarian move by the government of Kuwait,” Franks said in a statement.
He said his client maintains his innocence and that other Americans represented by Franks are expected to be released by Kuwait later.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The names of the released prisoners have not been released.
Kuwait did not acknowledge the release of prisoners on its official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prisoner releases are customary in Muslim-majority countries during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the upcoming Eid al-Fitr festival.
Kuwait, a small, oil-rich country bordering Iraq and Saudi Arabia and neighboring Iran, is seen as the United States’ main non-NATO ally. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the partnership last month, saying the United States has “unwavering support for Kuwait’s sovereignty and the well-being of its people.”
The two countries have maintained a close military partnership since the 1991 Gulf War, when the United States fought to expel Iraqi forces after Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. About 13,500 American troops are still stationed at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
But Kuwait, a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws on drugs, has also detained many U.S. military contractors on drug charges, some for years, with their families alleging abuse while incarcerated.
Others have criticized Kuwaiti police for fabricating charges and fabricating evidence to bring them against them, charges that the authoritarian state, ruled by a hereditary emir, has never acknowledged.
The U.S. State Department warns travelers that Kuwait has harsh penalties for drug crimes that can result in lengthy prison sentences or even the death penalty. While defense cooperation agreements between the United States and Kuwait are likely to include provisions to ensure that U.S. troops are bound only by U.S. laws, those provisions are unlikely to apply to military contractors working locally.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has successfully brokered the release of American teacher Marc Fogel through a prisoner swap with Russia and announced the release of a U.S. citizen held hostage in Belarus.
The Americans freed from Kuwait on Wednesday were not designated by the U.S. government as “wrongfully detained,” a designation applied to a small number of Americans held overseas that typically ensures their cases are handled by the government’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
“Every American who has been unjustly detained abroad must be released and return home. The United States will not tolerate the unlawful detention of our citizens,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday (March 9). He also said: “I will continue to work hard to bring more Americans back to their loved ones, and I will never back down until they come home.”