By Simon Lewis and Jonathan Landay
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is considering whether to censure Afghanistan over its detention of American citizens, a move that could lead to a ban on U.S. passport holders traveling to the country, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Rubio on February 27 designated Iran as a state sponsor of wrongful detention, the first country to be designated under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in September.
In addition to making the same determination for Afghanistan, the U.S. could restrict the use of U.S. passports for travel to Afghanistan, the sources said. Such a passport restriction is currently only in place for North Korea.
Rubio warned the U.S. could restrict travel to Iran over its detention of U.S. citizens, but has not imposed any restrictions. The U.S. and Israel launched a war against Iran the day after announcing the determination.
Washington is demanding that Kabul release all U.S. citizens detained in the country, including Mahmood Habibi and Dennis Coyle, the sources said. The U.S. is also seeking the return of the remains of Paul Overby, an author who was last seen close to Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan in 2014, the sources said.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters was unable to reach the government in Afghanistan for comment.
Afghanistan’s Taliban government has previously denied it detained Habibi, who was head of Afghanistan’s civil aviation.
Speaking at an event at the State Department on Monday to mark U.S. Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day, Rubio said the U.S. would apply the new designation to governments that detain U.S. citizens in an attempt to gain leverage over Washington.
“They view Americans as a commodity that they can grab on to and then trade in the future. That cycle has to stop, and that’s why this designation now exists,” he said.
CBS News was the first to report on the U.S. considering designating Afghanistan as a state sponsor of wrongful detention.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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