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Diplomats appeal for Red Cross access to aid workers in Kabul
Western diplomats on Wednesday urged the Taliban to allow Red Cross visits to eight foreigners detained for allegedly preaching Christianity and vowed to press on with efforts to gain consular access.
Western diplomats on Wednesday urged the Taliban to allow Red Cross visits to eight foreigners detained for allegedly preaching Christianity and vowed to press on with efforts to gain consular access.
Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel on Tuesday said that the Islamic militia might allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the aid workers, who have not been seen since their arrest in Afghanistan early this month. That would be a welcome step, said Pakistan-based Australian consul Alastar Adams. Diplomats left Kabul empty handed on Tuesday after a futile week trying to gain permission from the ruling militia to visit the detainees. A US embassy spokesman said that ICRC visits would not ease us pressure on the Taliban to allow consular access in line with international convention.
To US (ICRC visits) do not satisfy the requirements of consular access but we would view it as a positive development, he said.
Mutawakel said that the ICRC was neutral in the Afghan civil war and could therefore be trusted with visiting the detainees on humanitarian grounds.
Adams said the US, Australian and German heads of mission in Pakistan, plus the three consuls who travelled to Kabul last week, would meet on Wednesday to discuss applying for new visas to return as soon as possible.
He said that he hoped Pakistan, would use its influence in Kabul to help soften the militia's hardline stance.
Bureau Report
Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel on Tuesday said that the Islamic militia might allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the aid workers, who have not been seen since their arrest in Afghanistan early this month. That would be a welcome step, said Pakistan-based Australian consul Alastar Adams. Diplomats left Kabul empty handed on Tuesday after a futile week trying to gain permission from the ruling militia to visit the detainees. A US embassy spokesman said that ICRC visits would not ease us pressure on the Taliban to allow consular access in line with international convention.
To US (ICRC visits) do not satisfy the requirements of consular access but we would view it as a positive development, he said.
Mutawakel said that the ICRC was neutral in the Afghan civil war and could therefore be trusted with visiting the detainees on humanitarian grounds.
Adams said the US, Australian and German heads of mission in Pakistan, plus the three consuls who travelled to Kabul last week, would meet on Wednesday to discuss applying for new visas to return as soon as possible.
He said that he hoped Pakistan, would use its influence in Kabul to help soften the militia's hardline stance.
Bureau Report