KARACHI - Diplomats waiting to visit aid workers detained in Kabul for promoting Christianity said on Saturday the ruling Taliban had failed to provide promised visas but they would continue pushing to meet their nationals.
The diplomats from Germany, Australia and the United States had hoped to fly to Kabul from the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Sunday to meet eight of their nationals arrested last weekend.
"We're not leaving tomorrow as we had hoped. We'll just continue to try and press for the visas as vigorously as we can, we're somewhat frustrated," an American spokesman told Reuters.
The Taliban arrested four Germans, two Australians, two Americans and 16 Afghans from German-based Christian relief agency Shelter Now International (SNI) last weekend on charges they were proselytising Afghan Muslims, a crime punishable by death in Afghanistan.
An Australian diplomat said it was unlikely the three-nation delegation could leave before Monday or Tuesday.
"We've just got to keep insisting, we can apply pressure. They had told us they would issue the visas...it hasn't eventuated," he said.
In Kabul, Francesc Vendrell, U.N. special representative for Afghanistan, told reporters he wanted talks with the Taliban over the fate of the 24 detainees.
Australian and German diplomats said earlier they thought the visa delay might indicate the foreigners would soon be expelled.
"If they're going to issue visas it means they're going to keep them in detention," the Australian diplomat said. "If they don't issue us visas it means they might (expel) them fairly soon."
Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, told Reuters he had not received visa clearance from Kabul.
U.N. WADES IN
U.N. envoy Vendrell said that if the foreigners had been spreading Christianity as claimed by the Taliban, he hoped they would be expelled and not face more severe punishment.
"I hope they will...also allow...advice to be provided to the (detained) Afghans because the Afghans too are in a very serious danger.
"We don't know whether these people were simply listening to views presented to them -- if that is what happened -- and I hope there will be clemency and justice," Vendrell said.
Georg Taubmann, SNI's arrested German head in Kabul, was reported late on Friday to have "requested pardon for the workers of his organisation," the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted the Taliban's Voice of Shariat Radio as saying.
AIP added that Taubmann, who has worked with Afghan refugees for SNI in Pakistan since 1983 and moved to Kabul in June 2000, had also met Mohammad Salim Haqqani, deputy minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
"Taubmann's confession comes from the Taliban so we cannot verify it, but it might also be a good sign they will look for a solution," said a German diplomat.
The Taliban, who espouse a purist form of Islam, have been internationally condemned for a poor human rights record -- particularly against women -- and for destroying pre-Islamic heritage, including giant ancient Buddhas hewn out of cliffs in central Bamiyan province.
WORRY FOR AFGHANS
Aid workers in Kabul say while the foreign detainees can expect help they are more worried about the fate of local staff.
There are fears that the detained Afghans could be executed for either deserting Islam or trying to convert Muslim Afghans.
Taliban Ambassador Zaeef said punishment would be determined by Sharia law although Muslims and non-Muslims would be treated differently.
The Taliban religious police say they have seized around 10,000 Christian cassettes, books, computer disks and bibles, most in local Dari and Pashto languages.
Shelter Now denies its staff were proselytising and says its other workers in the country have fled to Pakistan.
A spokesman for the opposition alliance, which controls about 10 percent of war-torn Afghanistan, had little sympathy.
"Our demand for all international agencies is to not indulge themselves in introducing their political and religious policies to the Afghan people," Sayed Naibullah Hashimi, a spokesman for ousted president Burnahuddin Rabbani, told Reuters from Faizabad.
(Additional reporting by Syed Salahuddin in Kabul)
09:31 08-11-01
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