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- The State Department says Bergdahl's case does not set the stage for other exchanges
- Alan Gross is being held in Cuba and Kenneth Bae is in North Korea
- Other efforts to win the release of Americans being held overseas mired in controversy
(CNN) -- Could the exchange of five Taliban prisoners for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl set a precedent for swaps involving other countries holding U.S. military or diplomatic personnel?
The Obama administration says "no."
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked by reporters whether the United States would consider releasing the three remaining members of the "Cuban Five," a group of men convicted of espionage in the late 1990s, for USAID contractor Alan Gross, who is jailed in Cuba.
These are photos, obtained by WikiLeaks that match the names of the detainees released by the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense would neither confirm nor deny their accuracy. Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa was an early member of the Taliban in 1994 and was interior minister during the Taliban's rule. He was arrested in Pakistan and was transferred to Guantanamo in May 2002. During questioning, Khairkhwa denied all knowledge of extremist activities.
Mullah Mohammad Fazl commanded the main force fighting the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance in 2001, and served as chief of army staff under the Taliban regime. Fazl was detained after surrendering to Abdul Rashid Dostam, the leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community, in November 2001. He was transferred into U.S. custody in December 2001 and was one of the first arrivals at Guantanamo, where he was assessed as having high intelligence value.
Mullah Norullah Noori served as governor of Balkh province in the Taliban regime and played some role in coordinating the fight against the Northern Alliance. Like Fazl, Noori was detained after surrendering to Dostam, the Uzbek leader, in 2001.
Abdul Haq Wasiq was the deputy chief of the Taliban regime's intelligence service. Wasiq claimed, according to an administrative review, that he was arrested while trying to help the United States locate senior Taliban figures. He denied any links to militant groups.
Mohammad Nabi Omari was a minor Taliban official in Khost Province and was the Taliban's chief of communications and helped al Qaeda members escape from Afghanistan to Pakistan. He also said that he had worked with a U.S. operative named Mark to try to track down Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Guantanamo detainees swapped for Bergdahl
Guantanamo detainees swapped
This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on Saturday, May 31.
An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying. But he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on Friday, April 11. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.
A North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. Those alleged acts were not detailed by the country's state-run news agency when it announced the sentence in May. Bae, here in a photo from a Facebook page titled Remember Ken Bae, was arrested in November 2012. "This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN.
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN in January that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority.
Warren Weinstein, a contractor held by al Qaeda militants, is a U.S. citizen who has been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011.
U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport Saturday, December 7, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained October 26 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman says the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.
Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, on May 22, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released on Friday, May 31, and is back in the United States.
Saeed Abedini, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013, accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches.
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her right, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.
Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.
Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month after he was detained in April 2011. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010 without any apparent U.S. intervention. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.
Josh Fattal, center, Sarah Shourd, left, and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was also detained at Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, has been in Cuban custody since December 2009, when he was jailed while working as a subcontractor. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson have both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf, but they were unable to secure his release.
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial.
Freelance reporter James Foley went missing in November 2012 after his car was stopped by gunmen in Syria. He is likely being held by the Syrian government, according to the GlobalPost, an online international news outlet to which he contributed, and Foley's brother.
Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June.
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
Americans detained abroad
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Friend shares memories of Bergdahl
Coulter: Bergdahl was not 'left behind'
Fellow soldiers call Bergdahl a deserter
Havana has repeatedly told the Obama administration it wanted to negotiate a deal, saying the men were not spies and were only monitoring exile groups responsible for attacks against Cuba.
Gross, who was working for the U.S. Agency for International Development when he was arrested, was charged by a Cuban court in 2011 of being an American spy. USAID has said he was in the country working on a U.S. government project setting up satellite internet connections.
Cuban officials tell CNN the United States refuses to engage on the issue.
Psaki said the administration remains opposed to such a trade and stressed that Bergdahl's case was an extraordinary measure to free a prisoner of war.
What's next for Bergdahl?
The Obama administration justified the operation due to Bergdahl's health and safety, which appeared in jeopardy.
"In any case, whether it's Alan Gross or Kenneth Bae or others who are detained American citizens, we take every step possible to make the case and to -- take steps to ensure their return home to the United States," she said.
Gross's health has been an issue. And Bae is a Korean-American convicted by North Korea on charges of trying to overthrow the government.
'To me, he is still an American'
Bergdahl recovers from captivity
In April 2013, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Bae's family is also worried about his health. He is widely reported to have been carrying out Christian missionary work in North Korea.
"We look at each case differently," Psaki said.
There have been other instances when a U.S. administration sought to negotiate the release of Americans being held in non-military situations.
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter tried to broker the release of the American hostages in Iran.
And in 1985, President Ronald Reagan approved secret arms sales to Iran in an effort to secure the release of seven American hostages being held by Iranians in Lebanon. That was the core of what became the Iran-Contra affair.
The deal for Bergdahl also raises questions about the United States and present day Iran.
Would the United States, for example, release Iranians serving American-imposed prison terms for violating sanctions or weapons trafficking in exchange for Bob Levinson, the longest-held American hostage in U.S. history?
Levinson, a former FBI agent disappeared in 2007 in Iran. It has since been revealed he was working for a group of CIA analysts without authorization of the agency's leadership.
Iran has long denied any involvement in Levinson's disappearance, but U.S. officials have said they believe he is alive and have urged the Iranian government to help secure his release.
