WASHINGTON – A Democratic senator is calling on the State Department to prioritize the return of Mark Frerichs, an American contractor believed to have been taken by a Taliban-linked militant network in Afghanistan earlier this year.The letter from Sen.
Tammy Duckworth of Illinois comes weeks after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held what are likely his last meetings with the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators trying to hammer out a peace deal.
It is unclear to what extent Frerichs, who is one of Duckworth's constituents, was discussed during those meetings. But in the letter to Pompeo, which was being made public on Monday, Duckworth complained that the family has not had any recent, direct communication from U.S.