KABUL, Afghanistan - Parents and Western diplomats pressed the Taliban for access to eight jailed aid workers so they can develop a legal defense as their trial on charges of preaching Christianity entered its second week.
Inside the muddy brown supreme court building in Kabul, Chief Justice Noor Mohammed Saqib was sequestered away in his office Monday at a weekly meeting of judges from throughout this devoutly Muslim country.
The case of the eight foreign workers was one of several to be discussed throughout the day, said court officials, who asked not to be identified. The judges were not expected to make any decisions regarding the case, which was expected to continue Tuesday.
Grappling with Afghanistan's unfamiliar legal system, diplomats from the United States, Germany and Australia sent a written request Sunday to the Taliban's foreign ministry asking to see their detained nationals.
``We hope they will listen to our request to sit down with everybody in one room,'' said U.S. diplomat David Donahue.
The diplomats, stationed in neighboring Pakistan, have been in Kabul for two weeks and have seen their citizens only twice, including a court appearance Saturday.
The parents of the two American women, Dayna Curry, 29, and Heather Mercer, 24, also made a written appeal for another visit. They have seen their daughters four times since they arrived in Kabul two weeks.
At their last encounter, an emotional one at the supreme court, they listened intently to Saqib, hoping to understand the legal process their children faced.
On Sunday, Curry's mother, Nancy Cassell, of Thompson's Station, Tenn., and Mercer's father, John Mercer, of Vienna Va., weighed legal options along with the diplomats. But Afghanistan's legal system is uncharted waters.
``We are walking through a minefield of procedures,'' said German diplomat Helmut Landes.
The next step appears to be a decision by the detained workers on whether they want to represent themselves or have a lawyer. It wasn't known if the aid workers wanted a lawyer.
``We are looking at a number of different places for who could possibly work best in this environment,'' said Donahue.
The Taliban espouse a harsh version of Islam that they say follows the literal interpretation of the Islamic holy book, the Quran. Their interpretation has often run contrary to other Muslim countries and Islamic scholars.
However, they maintain their version is a ``pure'' Islamic system.
The eight employees of Shelter Now International, a Christian aid group, were arrested along with 16 Afghan staff in early August.
The eight aid workers - two Americans, four Germans and two Australians - have been held at a reform school in the heart of Kabul since their arrest.
The Afghan employees have not been seen by international observers and will be tried separately, although the Taliban authorities have refused to say when.
Saqib also has said it was ``premature'' to discuss punishment should the aid workers be found guilty. The penalty for Afghans who convert or preach a religion other than Islam is death.
In July, the Taliban issued an edict saying the penalty for a foreigner suspected of proselytizing was jail and expulsion, but Saqib has refused to say whether he is operating under that edict.
AP-NY-09-10-01 0323EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.