Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Canadian Armed Forces veteran David Lavery is “safe” in Qatar – months after a network supporting vets expressed concern that he was missing in Afghanistan and may have been detained by the Taliban government became.
In a social media post on Sunday, Joly said she had “just spoken to David Lavery following his safe arrival in Qatar from Afghanistan. He’s in good spirits.”
Joly also thanked Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s foreign minister, for his “help in the release of our Canadian citizen.”
According to a source with knowledge of Lavery’s release, the former Canadian soldier was arrested in Kabul on November 11, 2024 – Remembrance Day. The Canadian government contacted the government of Qatar to request assistance in securing Lavery’s release.
I have just spoken to David Lavery about his safe arrival in Qatar from Afghanistan. He is in good spirits.
Many thanks to my Qatari counterpart, @MBA_AlThani_for assisting in the release of our Canadian citizen.
Qatari mediators coordinated with senior Canadian officials and used contacts in Afghanistan to send a medical team to assess Lavery’s condition and provide care while facilitating contact between Lavery and his family, the source said.
Finally, the source said, Lavery underwent a medical examination upon arrival in Doha and is now with his family.
In November, the Veterans Transition Network said it was “deeply concerned for the well-being of David Lavery, known to all he helped as ‘Canadian Dave.’
On Sunday, the broadcaster released a statement saying it was “relieved and overjoyed to confirm the safe release of (Lavery) from Taliban custody in Afghanistan.”
“We are immensely relieved to know that a friend, father, veteran and Canadian humanitarian is out of harm’s way,” Oliver Thorne, CEO of the Veterans Transition Network, said in the statement. “Our work over the past three years to evacuate Afghan allies who supported Canada’s mission would not have been possible without Dave’s personal commitment and bravery.”
The statement said the broadcaster and Lavery’s family had “intentionally released limited information” over the past two and a half months, “with the aim of minimizing media speculation that could place Dave at greater risk or jeopardize the possibility of his release.”
Even before the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, Lavery was working to provide aid and assistance to eligible Afghan migrants. The Veterans Transition Network found in November that Lavery repeatedly traveled to Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance and to lay wreaths at the Canadian Memorial in Kabul on Remembrance Day.
CBC News has contacted Global Affairs Canada for further information.
