The Taliban released on Sunday Herbert Fritz, an 84-year-old Austrian and far-right nationalist who was arrested in Afghanistan last May, Reuters and News.ro reported.

The Austrian government announced in a statement that Fritz arrived in Doha later that day after mediation by the Qatari government, which helped secure his release.

After his arrest last year, the Austrian newspaper Der Standard noted that Fritz had traveled to Afghanistan and spoke positively about life there. According to the paper, this has helped bolster anti-immigration arguments that Afghanistan is a safe country for refugees to return to.

The Taliban arrested him on suspicion of espionage, Der Standard reports.

Austria’s foreign ministry said it had been working on Fritz’s release since May and thanked Qatar and the European Union delegation in Kabul for supporting its efforts to secure his return to Austria.

According to Der Standard and other media, Fritz was one of the founders of the country’s National Democratic Party (NDP), a far-right group banned in 1988.

Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, which is leading opinion polls ahead of this year’s parliamentary elections, has pushed for Fritz’s dismissal. The party said he was doing research for the book in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar expressed its gratitude to the Taliban administration in Afghanistan for its cooperation in the release of the Austrian, without naming him.

The Austrian Resistance Documentation Center, which monitors far-right activities, described Fritz as an active participant in far-right political circles.