Release of prisoners comes amid push by Trump administration to bring home US citizens jailed overseas.
Kuwait has released a group of American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug-related charges, in a move seen as a gesture of goodwill between two allies, a representative for the detainees told The Associated Press news agency on Wednesday.
The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued US government push to bring home American citizens jailed in foreign countries.
Six of the newly freed prisoners were accompanied on a flight from Kuwait to New York by Jonathan Franks, a private consultant who works on cases involving American hostages and detainees and who had been in the country to help secure their release.
“My clients and their families are grateful to the Kuwaiti government for this kind humanitarian gesture,” Franks said in a statement.
He said that his clients maintain their innocence and that additional Americans he represents also 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 were not immediately made public.
Kuwait, a small, oil-rich nation that borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia and is near Iran, is considered a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as recently as last month, when he said the US “remains steadfast in its support for Kuwait’s sovereignty and the wellbeing of its people”.
Close military partnership
The countries have had a close military partnership since the US launched the 1991 Gulf War to expel Iraqi troops after then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded the country, with some 13,500 American troops stationed in Kuwait at Camp Arifjan and Ali al-Salem Air Base.
But Kuwait has also detained many American military contractors on drug charges, in some cases, for years. Their families have alleged that their loved ones faced abuse while imprisoned in a country that bans alcohol and has strict laws regarding drugs.
Others have accused Kuwaiti police of bringing trumped-up charges and manufacturing evidence used against them.
The State Department warns travellers that drug charges in Kuwait can carry long prison sentences and the death penalty.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has secured the release of American teacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned US citizen.
The Americans released Wednesday had not been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. The status is applied to a subsection of Americans jailed abroad and historically ensures the case is handled by the administration’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs – the office that handles negotiations for a release.
But advocates of those held in foreign countries are hopeful the Trump administration will take a more flexible approach and secure the release of those not deemed wrongfully detained.
“The sad reality is that these Americans were left in prison for years due to a misguided policy that had, before President Trump took office, effectively abandoned Americans abroad who hadn’t been designated wrongfully detained,” Franks said in a statement.
“These releases,” he added, “demonstrate what is achievable when the US government prioritises bringing Americans home.”