STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF TIM WEEKS
“I am deeply saddened by the death in Afghanistan of Jibra’il Omar, best known in Australia as Tim Weeks.
“Tim died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 54.
“Before his death he was working as English teacher in Afghanistan.”
“Born in Sydney and growing up in Wagga Wagga, Tim went to St Michael’s Regional High School and then on to Trinity Senior High School – graduating in 1986.
“But, through his role as a teacher, he found himself in a most extraordinary situation.
“Tim was abducted at gunpoint outside an American university in Kabul by the Taliban while teaching in Afghanistan on 7 August 2016 – just weeks after starting in the role. He was held prisoner for three long, uncertain years along with American counterpart Kevin King.
“He was released in 2019 and returned to Australia where he was praised for his courage and endurance.
“I was there when Tim was welcomed back to Australia by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Marise Payne and also attended a Civic Reception in Wagga Wagga on Christmas Eve where relieved friends and family shared the community’s joy at his return home.
“He said at the Civic Reception he had a special place in his heart for people to whom he owed his life while a captive, including his Taliban guards, and that he found himself missing them at times.
“And so, controversially, but with his 2019 words in mind maybe understandably, Tim returned to Afghanistan in 2022 to continue his work as an English teacher.
“He felt he had an obligation to go back to that troubled country to finish the job he started just weeks before being captured.
“Like all of us, Tim had his faults and became very much an apologist for the Taliban in the years since he returned to Afghanistan, but all of that aside, what he wished for was for Afghani women be afforded the chance to attend university, to learn English and to gain employment.
“We will mourn Tim’s passing and thank him for what he did for international development.”