Kabul | Thursday
THE Taliban regime accused a British woman journalist arrested in Afghanistan last week of being part of a special forces unit, dashing hopes for her early release, the press reported in Kabul on Thursday.
”She must have had ill intentions while America and Britain talk of having their special forces in Afghanistan. She could be one of those special forces,” said the Taliban information minister Qudratullah Jamal.
”Surely her crime is high,” the minister went on. ”How come she arrives here in such a situation without any documents despite the ban on foreign journalists in Afghanistan?”
Yvonne Ridley, a London-based Sunday Express reporter, was arrested on Friday for allegedly entering Afghanistan illegally from Pakistan.
The Afghan regime’s remarks have made it unlikely that an early release could be secured for the reporter.
The Foreign Office reiterated that Ridley was not a member of the British armed forces.
”We have told the Taliban this and we have passed on information from her employers to that effect. We expect the Taliban to accept this information and resolve the situation as soon as possible,” a representative said.
The British High Commissioner to Pakistan Hilary Nicholas Synnott met on Tuesday in Islamabad with the ambassador of the Taliban regime to press for the release of the British journalist.
Taliban officials have said they are looking into possible spying charges against Ridley, who is reportedly being detained in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.
But according to Ridley’s newspaper, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel has indicated that Ridley would be held for a ”maximum of one week” and then released and deported.
The charge of spying in Taliban-held Afghanistan carries the death penalty. – Sapa-AFP