Taliban say they have freed Australian Timothy Weeks, held captive for three years

Scott Morrison says the family of released Taliban hostage Timothy Weeks are ‘overjoyed’.

Australian professor Timothy Weeks, pictured making a statement on camera in 2017, is expected to be released on Tuesday. Picture: AP

Scott Morrison says the family of released Australian Taliban hostage Timothy Weeks are “completely overjoyed” that he will be coming home.

The Prime Minister said Foreign Minister Marise Payne had spoken with the family of Professor Weeks on Wednesday morning, after the NSW man and American hostage Kevin King were released in Afghanistan to US forces.

Mr Morrison said Professor Weeks was in a “good condition” considering he had been through “three years of absolute hell” during his detention by the terror group.

“The Foreign Minister has also spoken to the family this morning and as a result, as you would expect they are completely overjoyed,” Mr Morrison told Seven Network this morning.

“Obviously the families ask that their privacy be respected but I understand that, under the circumstances, he is in good condition and is currently going through all those assessments as you would expect.

“But this has been a great piece of work done in the interests of both of these two gentlemen and we couldn’t be more pleased to finally get them out safely and to get them home for their families.”

Senator Payne said his family were “extremely grateful’’. “When I spoke to some of his family members last night they were of course overjoyed, extremely relieved, extremely grateful to those who assisted in the release and who achieved this outcome. And very much looking forward to talking to Tim,” Senator Payne said on Wednesday morning.

“I understand that first conversation has happened. I don’t think any of us can begin to imagine how incredible that is for his family and for Tim himself.”

Senator Payne also acknowledged the role of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in negotiating the release of the hostages. “His efforts in the pursuit of confidence-building measures in the pursuit of the freedom of these two men have been extremely important to achieving their release,” she said.

Mr Morrison said he spoken overnight with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while the Prime Minister also praised President Donald Trump for helping secure their release.

Five months after he was abducted at gunpoint outside a Kabul university in 2016, a tearful Timothy Weeks appeared in a Taliban hostage video.

“I don’t want to die here,” the Australian teacher pleaded, as he wiped tears from his eyes.

“Not alone, not here. Please speak, my family, my father, brother and sisters, I ask you, speak for me now.’’

On Tuesday night Mr Weeks, an English teacher from Wagga Wagga, NSW, and his fellow hostage, American Kevin King, were finally released in Afghanistan’s Zabul province.

It wasn’t immediately known if Mr Weeks and Mr King, both professors at the American University of Kabul, were handed over to ­Afghan government representatives, intermediaries, or US forces.

Images of Australian Timothy Weekes, top, and American Kevin King, who were both abducted by the insurgents in Afghanistan in August 2016.

Three senior Taliban commanders whose freedom had been bartered in exchange for that of the two Westerners, on Tuesday touched down in Qatar, a move Australian authorities had hoped — correctly as it proved — would foreshadow Mr Weeks’s release.

Little is known of Mr Weeks’s circumstances since he disappeared from view three years ago.

A second hostage video released five months after the first had him looking well enough, but the physical and psychological privations of captivity will have taken their toll.

An unsuccessful rescue mission conducted by US Navy Seals in the days after Mr Weeks’s capture was the last reliable lead as to the pair’s whereabouts. (The Taliban moved them just days before the Seals struck.)

It is likely Mr Weeks and Mr King have been moved frequently, and in conditions of intense secrecy. There is no suggestion the two have been tortured. The Taliban, generally treats its prisoners well, if only because it recognises their value, either as bargaining chips or ­potential sources of income.

The hostage trade was the end-game of years of protracted negotiations between the Taliban, the Afghan government and the Trump administration, which were aimed at restarting stalled peace talks.

Merv and Marie Weeks of Wagga. Picture: Facebook

Mr Weeks’ father Mervyn was notified of his release in a phone call from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Mervyn Weeks told ABC he was very relieved but that he had yet to speak to his son and was unsure of his whereabouts and plans.

A Weeks’ family statement on Tuesday night asking for privacy. “We are grateful for the efforts of the Australian governmentin securing Tim’s release,” it read.

“We would like to thank the United States government for the significant role it played in securing Tim’s freedom and acknowledge the important contribution of the government of Afghanistan.

“We thank our friends and extended family for their love and support over the past three years during this very difficult time.

“While we understand the intense public interest in Tim’s release, we do not want to comment further.”

The Taliban had refused to deal directly with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, which it regards as an illegitimate “puppet’’ regime.

The latest round of talks ended abruptly in September after a Taliban bomb killed 12 people, including an American soldier, in Kabul.

In response, US President Don­ald Trump abandoned the talks, declaring them “dead’’.

But on Tuesday Anas Haqqani, the brother of the leader of the feared Haqqani insurgency network, along with two Taliban commanders, Mali Khan and Hafiz Rashid, touched down in Qatar.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson praised Mr Ghani for making the “difficult decision’’ to release the three insurgents.

“His resolve to offer a sign of good faith towards meaningful peace talks reflects his deep desire to cement a durable and resilient peace agreement for Afghanistan,’’ the spokesperson said.

In a joint statement on Tuesday night, Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne said they were “profoundly pleased and relieved­” by the hostages’ release.

They also expressed Australia’s “deepest appreciation” to Mr Trump, the US and Dr Ghani’s government for their “invaluable assistance … without which we would not be able to welcome Tim back”.