KABUL, Afghanistan - The closure of a German-based relief agency and the arrest of 24 staff, eight of them foreigners, was the latest move by Afghans resisting attempts at conversion to Christianity from Islam, a senior Taliban official said Monday.
Salim Haqqani, the ruling Taliban's deputy minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, told Reuters in an interview that it was ordinary people who tipped off authorities in Kabul about the activities of the aid group, Shelter Now International.
"The people of Afghanistan are very fond of their religion," said Haqqani, a day after the International Committee of the Red Cross met the eight detained foreigners.
The foreigners -- four Germans, two Australians and two Americans -- have been held for more than three weeks, accused of spreading Christianity.
Three Western diplomats and two relatives arrived in Kabul from Pakistan Monday to visit the detainees after the Taliban lifted its ban on access.
Afghan people "have struggled against the British people and the Russians to keep their religion," Haqqani said, referring to Afghan resistance to the spread of the British empire in the early 20th century and the Soviet occupation in the 1980s.
Afghans have traditionally frowned on Christian missionaries, and the orthodox Islamic Taliban, who swept to power in Kabul in 1996, have warned aid agencies against proselytizing.
Haqqani said that in keeping with their religious faith, citizens had informed authorities about Shelter Now activities.
The group was then investigated and arrests were made after evidence was collected against them, he added.
The Taliban say the investigation resulted in a haul of Christian material, much of it in local Pashto and Dari languages, which was later shown to diplomats from Germany, the United States and Australia who visited Kabul last week in a futile attempt to meet their detained nationals.
INVESTIGATIONS
Haqqani said the Taliban had earlier warned Shelter Now workers to "refrain" from trying to convert Afghan Muslims to Christianity under the name of aid work.
"We did warn them before," he said.
Shelter Now says it tells its staff not to proselytize.
Haqqani said investigations into the case were continuing although "preliminary investigations" were complete.
The Taliban had said they would only allow outside access to the detainees once investigations were over.
"We are continuing with the investigations to reach a final result and also investigating other NGOs (non-governmental organizations)," said Haqqani, who studied in a Pakistani Muslim seminary, or madrasa, in the 1990s.
The seminary, run by Pakistani cleric and Taliban supporter Maulana Sami-ul-Haq in the North West Frontier Province village of Akora Khattak, was also attended by a number of other Taliban leaders.
The Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice -- also called the religious ministry -- is one of the most powerful organs of the Taliban administration, and gets its orders direct from supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Haqqani said a decision on the final outcome of the investigations would be taken by Omar according to Islamic sharia Law.
Under Taliban rules, strictly enforced by the religious police, the death penalty is prescribed for those Afghans who forsake Islam or those who try to convert others.
But the punishment for foreigners involved in proselytizing is unclear.
According to one Taliban decree, foreigners face detention and then expulsion from Afghanistan, but all Taliban officials say the final decision rests with Omar, who is based in the movement's southern stronghold of Kandahar.
11:24 08-27-01
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