Red Cross Sees Western Aid Workers Detained in Kabul

14/04/2001| IslamWeb

KABUL (Islamweb & News Agencies) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Sunday it had seen eight foreign aid workers held by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban since early August on charges of spreading Christianity.(Read photo caption below) Robert Dominin, head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul, told reporters he could not reveal the condition of the six women and two men -- four Germans, two Americans and two Australians -- who were given medical examinations.
``As is the rule for such visits, the confidences made by the detainees to the ICRC delegates and the observations made by the ICRC team with regards to their physical and psychological health will be kept strictly confidential,'' the ICRC said in a subsequent press release.
The visit was the first contact for the eight members of Shelter Now International (SNI) with anyone outside the Taliban since they were detained. The Taliban had blocked efforts by the U.S., German and Australian governments to see them.
``They were very relieved to see us,'' an ICRC spokesman in Kabul, Mario Musa, told Reuters.
The Taliban, saying their investigation into alleged proselytising was nearing completion, said Saturday it would now allow visits by the ICRC, relatives and representatives of the prisoners' governments.
The relatives and diplomats must still get their visas, expected to be issued Monday, and could then fly aboard a United Nations flight to Kabul Tuesday.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Unidentified members of the International Red Cross arrive at Darul Tadeeb, a reform school for delinquent children, to see the detained aid workers Sunday, Aug. 26, 2001, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Taliban rulers arrested the eight aid workers of NGO, Shelter Now International, three weeks ago in Kabul on charges of preaching Christianity in Afghanistan. The Afghan words on signboard, right, read: "Reform Center". (AP Photo/Amir Shah)