TALEBAN REFUSED VISA TO DIPLOMATS TO MEET THEIR DETAINED NATIONAL
KABUL 12 Aug. (IPS) Taleban would not allow diplomats from Australia, Germany and the United States to meet with their nationals arrested on charges of religious proselytism, the ruling fundamentalist Afghan regime’s Foreign Minister Ahmad Wakil Motevakel announced Sunday.
Speaking to reporters in the Capital Kabul, Mr. Motevakel said no one would be allowed to meet with the detainees until the ongoing investigations are over.
The Taleban arrested last week 24 members of the humanitarian aid agency Shelter Now International (SNI), including two Americans, two Australians and four Germans, two of them women, accused of converting Afghan Muslims to Christianity.
Confirming that the arrested foreign and Afghan nationals were still being interrogated, Mr. Motevakel said if the diplomats from Australia, Germany and America wanted to meet him and discuss the situation of their nationals, they would be welcomed to Kabul, adding however that meeting the arrested people was "out of questions for the time being".
He said Taleban had "solid evidence" to back their charges against the humanitarian organisation.
"At the time the Shelter Now workers were arrested form a residence in Kabul, they were running a film about the life and times of Jesus Christ", the Taleban Deputy Foreign Minister Maulvi Abdur Rehman Zahid told the Voice Of America Radio.
"Taleban officials also found Christian religious literature at the scene, which included a Holy Bible", he added.
The Taleban religious police say they have seized around 10,000 Christian cassettes, books, computer discs and bibles, most in the local Dari and Pashto languages of Afghanistan.
"The preaching of Christianity is absolutely unacceptable for the Islamic government and people of Afghanistan", he pointed out, accusing the Westerners of trying to exploit the deteriorated economic condition of Afghan people to convert unsuspecting Afghans to Christianity.
Shelter Now denies its staff was proselytising and says its other workers in the country have fled to Pakistan.
As Mr. Motevakel was speaking to reporters, it was announced that the 65 children on the custody of the SNI were freed Saturday.
The Taleban had detained the children, accused of receiving Christian teaching and imprisoned their fathers instead.
According to the Bakhtar Information Agency, the German-based relief agency was converting the 65 youngsters to Christianity, a crime punishable by death in Afghanistan.
Under the Taleban's strict interpretation of Islamic Shari’a laws, Muslim Afghans can be given the death penalty for either deserting Islam for another religion, even those officially recognised by Islam, like Christianity of Judaism.
The fathers had been jailed for several days as punishment for failing to supervise their children, Bakhtar added.
In Pakistan meanwhile, diplomats waiting to visit the imprisoned foreign aid workers confirmed that the Taleban had failed to provide the visas they had promised, but added they would continue pressing to visit the detainees.
The German, Australian and U.S. diplomats had hoped to fly to Kabul on Sunday from Islamabad to visit their imprisoned citizens. "We'll just continue to try and press for the visas as vigorously as we can. We're somewhat frustrated'', an American spokesman told Reuters.
An Australian diplomat said it was unlikely the three-nation delegation could leave Pakistan before Monday or Tuesday.
Australian and German diplomats said they thought the visa delay might indicate the foreigners would soon be expelled.
"If they're going to issue visas it means they're going to keep them in detention,'' the Australian said. "If they don't issue us visas it means they might (expel) them fairly soon''.
The Taleban have been internationally condemned for a poor human rights record, particularly against women, and for the recent destruction of giant ancient Buddha statues cut into mountains surrounding the town of Bamiyan, in central Afghanistan.
United Nations Special Representative for Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell also said that if the foreigners had been spreading Christianity as claimed by the Taleban, they would simply be expelled and not face more severe punishment.
However, he expressed serious concern about the fate of the Afghan aid workers being held, saying they were in "very serious danger'.
The Taleban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mollah Abdul Salam Za’if said Muslims and non-Muslims would be treated differently.
Along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan is the only other nation that has officially recognised the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, commonly known as the Taleban.
Forces opposed to the Taleban accuse Islamabad for "massive military assistance" to the ruling Muslim fundamentalists who rule over 90 per cent of the Afghan territory.
Arriving in Kabul for talks with officials from the Taleban over the fate of the arrested people, Mr. Vendrell said the arrest of the aid workers was "a cause of concern for the international community''.
But Mr. Motevakel said it was "too early" to say what kind of punishment would be decided for the detainees, including the Afghan aid workers. ENDS TALEBAN SHELTER NOW 12801