Democratic Congressman Ken Bentsen's diplomatic delegation's urging of Taliban leaders to release two American aid workers charged with preaching Christianity in Afghanistan was denied Friday. Heather Mercer, 24, who attended Baylor University in Waco, and Dayna Curry, 29, both workers of the Christian-based Shelter Now International Aid Group, have been in a jail operated by the Taliban Intelligence Service since Aug. 3. Six other foreign aid workers from Australia and Germany also remain in jail. The punishment for such a crime ranges from expulsion to jail time to the death penalty.
Mercer and Curry insist they were in Afghanistan to help the poor, not convert their religion.
"My goal is to simply help and shed some light on the subject ... I think the State Department is doing what they can, and it's just putting public pressure on the Taliban," Bentsen said.
In a letter Friday to Secretary of State Colin Powell urging action to secure the release of the women, Waco Congressman Chet Edwards, D-TX, and Bentsen wrote, "We believe that the Taliban's holding of these foreign aid workers, especially two American citizens, is an abhorrent act that only serves to reinforce the Taliban's extremist anti-U.S. and western agenda in the region."
Their trial began approximately five weeks ago, but was halted after the Sept. 11 attacks. The trial is expected to resume this weekend; however, it is unknown if the Taliban will permit the Pakistani lawyer hired by Mercer's parents, John Mercer and Deborah Oddy, to enter the country. Though the expert on Islamic law was recently granted an Afghan visa, he has been reluctant to attempt to enter the country because of the continuing threat of war.
The parents of both the women entered the country to visit their daughters, but were asked to leave the country Sept. 13. The Taliban asked all foreigners to leave the country because their safety could not be guaranteed.
"Our relation with the Taliban in Afghanistan is less now then before, and it was pretty nonexistent before," Bentsen said. It's clear they're in a much more precarious situation than before the Sept. 11 attacks ... All I tried to do is highlight this issue more with my colleagues and the public."