Western Diplomats Meet Taliban

15/04/2001| IslamWeb

KABUL, Afghanistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Western diplomats held talks with Taliban officials Tuesday and said they expect to meet a second time with two American women and six other foreigners jailed in Afghanistan on charges of preaching Christianity.The diplomats from the United States, Germany and Australia - along with parents of the two Americans - met with the detained aid workers Monday for the first time since their arrests more than three weeks ago.
``We have arranged other meetings with detainees, but we don't know whether it will be today or tomorrow,'' said Helmut Landes, Consul officer at the German Embassy in neighboring Pakistan.
``There shouldn't be any more obstacles to more visits. Now we have access - that is not an issue anymore,'' Landes, one of three Western diplomats involved the talks, told reporters in Kabul.
The Americans, Dana Curry and Heather Mercer, were arrested in early August along with six other foreign employees - four Germans and two Australians - of the Germany-based Christian aid organization Shelter Now International.
Taliban authorities say they caught the eight ``red-handed'' trying to entice Muslims to Christianity. Sixteen Afghan employees of the group were arrested on similar charges.
While the diplomats met twice with Taliban officials Tuesday, one parent of each American paced the large U.N. compound in Kabul, watched television and waited for the next chance to see their children.
Monday brought emotional reunions between Curry and her mother, who did not want to give her name; and Mercer and her father, John Mercer. The families would not reveal their hometowns.
They hugged and wept, said a Bakhtar News Agency reporter who was allowed to remain briefly in the meeting that was also attended by the diplomats.
On Tuesday, the diplomats were taken to the Taliban's foreign ministry, where they sought more information about the hard-line militia's investigation into charges of propagating Christianity.
``Today we have started discussions with the ministry of foreign affairs in order to monitor the upcoming procedure and hopefully we might have other talks and that's all I can say for the moment,'' said Landes.
The Taliban have said that any final decision will be made by their leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, who is based in southern Afghanistan.
The Taliban have not revealed where the Afghan prisoners are being held, and have refused requests from International Red Cross officials who want to see them. The Red Cross officials met the foreigners Sunday.
Under Taliban rule, the punishment for a Muslim who converts to Christianity is death. A foreigner convicted of preaching Christianity can be jailed for three to 10 days in jail and expelled.
PHOTO CAPTION:
German diplomat Helmut Landes talks to reporters after meeting officials of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement in Kabul on August 28, 2001. Landes said on Tuesday the ruling Taliban had agreed to allow more meetings with eight jailed foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity. (Sayed Salahuddin/Reuters)