Afghans demand reprieve for killer
AFGHANISTAN: Student demonstrators on Monday demanded that an
Afghan soldier sentenced to death for killing five French soldiers be
spared execution.
A military court last week rejected an appeal by the soldier, Abdul
Sabor, and the Afghan authorities have since executed 14 death row
prisoners in two groups including several Taliban insurgents.
Unconfirmed Afghan media reports have suggested that Sabor is among a
third group that President Hamid Karzai has approved for execution.
Karzai's office has refused to comment on the issue.
So-called green-on-blue attacks have spiralled this year, with a
total of 61 NATO soldiers killed by members of the Afghan security
forces, fuelling distrust between the allies in the war against the
Taliban Islamists. Sabor, who killed five French soldiers on January 20
while they were jogging within their base in the eastern province of
Kapisa, is the first Afghan convicted by a court of carrying out such an
attack.
The French casualties prompted France to withdraw its combat forces
from Afghanistan earlier than planned. It ended its combat mission in
Kapisa last week.
AFP |