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Red Cross can meet detainees, says Taliban minister
Afghanistan`s Taliban rulers will allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to meet eight foreign aid workers accused of spreading Christianity, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said on Thursday.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers will allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to meet eight foreign aid workers accused of spreading Christianity, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said on Thursday.
"We have no problem. They (ICRC representatives) can see them any time," Muttawakil told press persons by telephone from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. He said the Taliban had not informed the ICRC of the decision yet and gave no other details.
It was not clear when such a meeting could take place, and ICRC officials in Pakistan said they had not been informed of any developments by the Taliban. The ICRC has offered from the start to visit the prisoners.
The foreigners -- two Australians, four Germans and two Americans -- together with 16 Afghan employees of a Christian aid agency, have been held since early August. The Taliban have consistently refused to allow any contact, either consular or legal, with the aid workers of German-based Shelter Now International.
Muttawakil's statement appeared to add to the confusion surrounding their detention.
Mohammad Wali, the minister in charge of the religious police that carried out the arrests, told Reuters after Muttawakil spoke that he was unaware of any decision to allow a visit to the Western prisoners.
The Taliban's chief spokesman, Abdul Hai Mutmaen, had repeated on Wednesday there would be no access to the prisoners by anyone until a Taliban investigation into the charges was completed.
"Our stance regarding the visit has not changed, which is that until the investigation is completed, no one will be allowed to see the detainees," Mutmaen told press persons from Kandahar. Bureau Report
"We have no problem. They (ICRC representatives) can see them any time," Muttawakil told press persons by telephone from the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. He said the Taliban had not informed the ICRC of the decision yet and gave no other details.
It was not clear when such a meeting could take place, and ICRC officials in Pakistan said they had not been informed of any developments by the Taliban. The ICRC has offered from the start to visit the prisoners.
The foreigners -- two Australians, four Germans and two Americans -- together with 16 Afghan employees of a Christian aid agency, have been held since early August. The Taliban have consistently refused to allow any contact, either consular or legal, with the aid workers of German-based Shelter Now International.
Muttawakil's statement appeared to add to the confusion surrounding their detention.
Mohammad Wali, the minister in charge of the religious police that carried out the arrests, told Reuters after Muttawakil spoke that he was unaware of any decision to allow a visit to the Western prisoners.
The Taliban's chief spokesman, Abdul Hai Mutmaen, had repeated on Wednesday there would be no access to the prisoners by anyone until a Taliban investigation into the charges was completed.
"Our stance regarding the visit has not changed, which is that until the investigation is completed, no one will be allowed to see the detainees," Mutmaen told press persons from Kandahar. Bureau Report