CEP Advisory Board Member Ambassador Nathan Sales quoted: "'I think Zawahri’s presence in a Taliban safehouse has to be the nail in the coffin of any plan to release funds directly to the Taliban,' said Nathan Sales, who served as ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism from 2017 to 2021. 'They simply can’t be trusted and the risk is substantial that money released to them would find their way inevitably and directly into al Qaeda’s pockets.'"