"Austrian Far-Right Activist Freed by Taliban in Afghanistan"

The Taliban released 84-year-old Austrian far-right activist Herbert Fritz, who was arrested in Afghanistan last May on suspicion of spying. Fritz, a founding member of Austria's banned extreme right National Democratic Party, had reportedly been researching a book in Afghanistan. His release was secured with the help of mediation by the Qatari government, and the Austrian foreign ministry had been working to secure his return since May. Austria's far-right Freedom Party, leading in opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections, had pressed for his release, while the Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance described Fritz as an active participant in extreme-right political circles.