foundation, u.s. citizens and residents are being held in every one of these countries you see on your screen right now. secretary of state antony blinken says, quote, we remain committed to securing the freedom of u.s. citizens paul whelan and brittney grinder in russia and all u.s. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad, unquote. we re going to leave you tonight with just some of those whose families have asked for public advocacy. salah al-haidar, saudi arabia, 37 months. bader al-ibrahim, saudi arabia, 37 months. aziza al-yousef, saudi arabia, 48 months. airan berry, venezuela, 24 months. shahab dalili, iran, 6 years. luke denman, venezuela, 24 months. dr. walid fitaihi, saudi arabia, 54 months. mark frerichs, afghanistan, 27 months. matthew heath, venezuela, 20 months. majd kamalmaz, syria, 5 years. kai li, china, 5 years. alina lopez miyares, cuba, 5 years. siamak namazi, iran, 6 years. baquer namazi, iran, 6 years. paul overby, abducted in afghanistan, 8 years.
U.S. President Joe Biden on January 30 called on the Taliban to release American civil engineer and contractor Mark Frerichs as he reaches the two-year mark since his abduction in Kabul.
The State Department statement, released Saturday, continues America s bipartisan call for Frerichs, a civil engineer and contractor, to be returned home to Illinois.