US soldier freed as Obama agrees to Gitmo deal

Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt Bowe Bergdahl’s "safety and health were both in jeopardy" and officials had to act quickly to obtain his release, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said yesterday.

The only American prisoner of the Afghan war was freed on Saturday after President Barack Obama agreed to release five high-level Afghan detainees from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

“While Bowe was gone, he was never forgotten,” Obama said from the White House Rose Garden, where he was joined by Bergdahl’s parents. “The United States of America does not ever leave our men and women in uniform behind.”