Kuwait frees American prisoners, including veterans and military contractors jailed for years on drug charges

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 on Wednesday.

The release of at least six U.S. nationals follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s top hostage envoy, and comes amid a continued U.S. 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 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 his clients maintained their innocence and that he expected other Americans he represents 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 did not acknowledge the release on its state-run KUNA news agency and did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the AP. The holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and its upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday typically see prisoner releases across Muslim-majority nations.

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. Secretary of State Marco Rubio paid tribute to that relationship as recently as last month, when he said the U.S. “remains steadfast in its support for Kuwait’s sovereignty and the well-being of its people.”

The countries have had a close military partnership since America 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 criticized Kuwaiti police for bringing trumped-up charges and manufacturing evidence used against them — allegations never acknowledged by the autocratic nation ruled by a hereditary emir.

The State Department warns travelers that drug charges in Kuwait can carry long prison sentences, and even the death penalty. Defense cooperation agreements between the U.S. and Kuwait, which are not public, are believed to likely include provisions that ensure U.S. troops are subject only to American laws, though that likely doesn’t apply to contractors.

Since President Trump returned to the White House, his Republican administration has secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel in a prisoner swap with Russia and has announced the release by Belarus of an imprisoned U.S. citizen.

The Americans released Wednesday had not been designated by the U.S. 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 to 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 U.S. government prioritizes bringing Americans home.” 

Last week, President Trump announced that Amer Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, would become the new U.S. ambassador to Kuwait.