President Donald Trump announced Monday that an American “held hostage” in Yemen for more than a year has been returned to the United States.
Trump, in a series of afternoon tweets, said he was honored to report that Danny Burch “has been recovered and reunited with his wife and children” after spending 18 months held hostage in Yemen.
The president lauded the United Arab Emirates for helping to bring Burch home, offering that his recovery “reflects the best of what the United States and its partners can accomplish.”
“We work every day to bring Americans home. We maintain constant and intensive diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement cooperation within the United States government and with our foreign partners.” he tweeted.
Trump, who stressed that recovering American hostages is a priority for his administration, said Burch’s release marks the 20th U.S. captive freed since his 2016 election win.
He added that his administration “will not rest as we continue our work to bring the remaining American hostages back.”
Reuters reported in January 2018 that Burch, who works for the Yemeni Safer oil company, had been released and taken to Oman.
Sources reportedly told the news outlet that Burch was accompanied to Muscat by a senior Houthi leader.
Burch, who is married to a Yemeni citizen, was detained in September 2017 after taking his children to school, Reuters reported.
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