THE Taliban militia has arrested a French man disguised in a woman’s full-body burqa veil near the eastern city of Jalalabad, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Tuesday. The Pakistan-based news agency, which has close contacts with the Taliban, said the man was with two other people in Goshta, 35 kilometres east of Jalalabad, when he was arrested. ”The Taliban have arrested a Frenchman, of unknown identity, accompanied by two people,” AIP reported, adding that he had been sent to Jalalabad. In Paris, French foreign ministry representative Francois Rivasseau said the man was not a French soldier or part of a team of special agents operating in Northern Afghanistan. – Sapa-AFP
Monday October 8, 2001