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| Friday, 5 November 2004 |
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Afghan kidnappers say UN, govt agree to talks KABUL, Thursday (Reuters) An Afghan militant group that abducted three U.N. workers a week ago said on Thursday that the government and the United Nations had agreed to start formal negotiations for their release. The Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims) has threatened to kill the trio unless authorities met a series of demands including the release of all Taliban prisoners, the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the suspension of U.N. operations in the country. "The Afghan government and U.N. agreed to negotiations with us...and talks will be started," Sayed Khalid Agha, a spokesman for the Taliban splinter group, told Reuters on Thursday. Officials from the government and the United Nations were not immediately available for comment. The fate of the kidnapped trio hung in the balance on Wednesday after confusion over deadlines set by different spokesmen for the group. Agha had set midnight (1930 GMT Wednesday) as a deadline, but another spokesman said it had been extended to 2 p.m. (0930 GMT) on Friday. Agha gave no new deadline on Thursday, but had previously held out hope that further time might be given to negotiate with the authorities over the fate of the hostages - two women and a man, from Northern Ireland, Kosovo and Philippines. The investigation is officially being handled by the interior ministry and its fledgling police force with help from the United Nations, NATO-led peacekeepers and U.S.-led forces. Security sources say Britain has sent a hostage specialist team from Scotland Yard, while the Philippines has dispatched its ambassador from neighbouring Pakistan. Apart from the militant group, the parties involved are tight-lipped and it is unclear what talks might already have taken place. The militant group's leader, Mullah Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, had told Reuters previously that negotiations with a "tajir" - an influential trader with wide contacts - were continuing. The government has previously negotiated the release of several foreign nationals kidnapped by Taliban fugitives, some by paying ransom, and some security sources say that could be the best hope in this case. The crisis is an immediate challenge for Hamid Karzai who on Wednesday was officially declared the winner of Afghanistan's Oct. 9 presidential election after an independent review panel concluded voting irregularities did not affect the outcome. The hostages - Filipino Angelito Nayan, Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland and Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo - were working on those election results last week when they were snatched from a busy Kabul street. The abductions sparked fears among Afghanistan's 2,000-strong foreign Western community that militants might have started copying the tactics of insurgents in Iraq. Meanwhile two improvised bombs exploded near US and Swedish aid agency offices in Afghanistan's restive east but noone was injured, a US military spokesman said Thursday. The two home-made bombs blew up around 9:00 pm (1630GMT) Wednesday in the eastern city Jalalabad near compounds housing US AID, Washington's overseas aid wing, and the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, US Major Mark McCann said. "There were no injuries," he told AFP. The two bombs, both with timers attached, exploded several minutes apart, an employee of the Swedish organisation Rahman Jul Rahmani said. |
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