The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan confirmed on Wednesday the passing of Australian Timothy Weeks, who had taken the name Jibra’il Omar after converting to Islam.
Omar, an academic, passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer, as stated by the Afghan interior ministry.
In 2016, Omar was kidnapped along with an American colleague while leaving the American University in Kabul. They were held captive for over three years.
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In 2019, the two were released as part of a prisoner swap involving three senior members of the Haqqani Network, who were exchanged for the academics.
After his release, Omar, who converted to Islam during his captivity, returned to Afghanistan in 2022 following the Taliban’s resurgence.
The Afghan interior ministry’s statement mentioned that Omar had suffered from cancer for an extended period and was deeply attached to Afghanistan and the Islamic Emirate, which led him to return to Kabul to celebrate the Taliban’s victory.
Omar worked as an English teacher in Kabul and was committed to studying Islam. During his stay in Afghanistan, he traveled across the country to deepen his understanding of the religion. The Taliban extended their condolences to his family and friends.
Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official released in the same 2019 prisoner swap, honored Omar with a tribute on social media. Haqqani, who spent time with Omar during his captivity, shared a photo of them together, describing their relationship as a symbol of shared faith.
“Though Timothy Weeks and I came into this world in different times and distant places, fate brought us together at a crossroads,” Haqqani wrote. “My death became his, my life intertwined with his, and his freedom became mine.”
