A British couple who were detained by the Taliban for seven months have arrived back in the UK.

Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who had lived in Afghanistan for nearly 18 years, were released yesterday thanks to a deal brokered by Qatar.

The small Arab nation often acts as mediator between east and west, including hosting talks between Israel and Hamas. But talks were severely disrupted after Israel launched an airstrike in the Qatari Capital Doha, in a bid to target Hamas leaders meeting there.

Earlier we spoke to Dr Majed Al-Ansari, the spokesman for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We asked him about Qatar’s role in securing Peter and Barbie’s release from the Taliban.

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