Vienna says its nationwide arrived in Doha after mediation by the Qatari authorities helped safe his launch.
The Taliban launched Herbert Fritz, an 84-year-old far-right Austrian nationalist who was arrested in Afghanistan final Could.
The Austrian authorities stated in a press release on Sunday that Fritz arrived in Doha, Qatar earlier within the day after mediation by the Qatari authorities helped safe his launch.
Fritz was arrested final 12 months after defying Austria's long-standing warning in opposition to journey to Afghanistan, which in 2021 returned to Taliban rule.
“I feel it was dangerous luck, however I wish to go to once more,” he advised reporters upon arrival in Doha, when requested about his ordeal.
“There have been numerous good folks, however there have been additionally some silly folks, I'm sorry,” Fritz added, describing his captors.
After his arrest, the Austrian newspaper Der Normal reported that Fritz had gone to Afghanistan and reported positively about life there. He revealed an article titled “Holidays with the Taliban” through a far-right media outlet.
This helped gasoline anti-immigration arguments that Afghanistan was a secure nation to which refugees may return, the newspaper stated.
The Taliban arrested him on suspicion of espionage, and the Austrian neo-Nazis made their case public through Telegram channels, Der Normal reported.
Austria's overseas ministry stated it had been working to safe Fritz's launch since Could, and thanked Qatar and the European Union's illustration in Kabul for helping its efforts to safe his launch. return to Austria.
A spokesman for the Austrian ministry advised the Related Press information company that Fritz had been detained 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 crew for his or her “sturdy help within the launch of considered one of our residents from jail in Afghanistan”.
“It is just due to our trusted partnership that this Austrian citizen will have the ability to return residence along with his daughter and grandchildren,” stated Nehammer.
Fritz was a founding member of the nation's Nationwide Democratic Occasion (NDP), a far-right group banned in 1988, in keeping with Der Normal and different media.
Austria's far-right Freedom Occasion, which has been main in opinion polls forward of parliamentary elections scheduled for later this 12 months, had pressed for Fritz's launch. The social gathering stated he was investigating a e-book in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of International Affairs of Qatar expressed gratitude to X for the “authorities answerable for Afghanistan” for the discharge of the Austrian.
“The State of Qatar has proven, regionally and globally, that it’s a dependable worldwide companion on numerous vital points,” the ministry stated. “He spares no effort to use his power and his potential within the areas of mediation, preventive diplomacy, and the decision of disputes by peaceable means.”
