Afghan Taliban Say No Early Access to Westerners

13/04/2001| IslamWeb

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Wednesday ruled out any access to eight Westerners accused of trying to convert Muslim Afghans to Christianity until their investigation is complete.
Abdul Hai Mutmaen, the movement's chief spokesman, told Reuters any decision on either the fate of the four Germans, two Americans and two Australians or access to them would be made by the movement's leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
``Our stance regarding the visit has not changed, which is that until the investigation is completed no one will be allowed to see the detainees,'' Mutmaen said from the Taliban stronghold in the southern city of Kandahar.
The Taliban have said the investigation has been widened to include other organizations, including the U.N. World Food Program, the major provider of food aid in the impoverished nation.
The WFP on Tuesday issued a formal call for the Taliban to cease its ``baseless'' accusations.
``WFP has never been involved in propagating any religious persuasion in Afghanistan or elsewhere,'' the U.N. body said. ''Such strings are never attached to the food aid WFP provides.''
The arrests followed months of worsening relations between the Taliban, and foreign aid organizations helping Afghans suffering from 21 years of war and a devastating drought.
Diplomatic sources in Islamabad told Reuters that relatives of the two American detainees -- the mother of one and father of another -- had arrived in Pakistan and applied for visas to go to Afghanistan.
The sources said the Taliban embassy in Islamabad had forwarded the applications to the foreign ministry in Kabul.
The foreigners and 16 local workers with the German-based Christian aid agency Shelter Now International have been held since early August. Mutmaen said they were being treated well.
But his comments appeared to quash speculation the Taliban might soon take up an offer from the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit the prisoners to allay the concerns of their governments.
Mutmaen said Kabul-based leaders of the Taliban had received the ICRC proposal but a decision rested with Omar.
The United Nations has warned the Taliban they are violating international norms by refusing to let the detainees see representatives of their governments or lawyers.
The Taliban said Shelter Now International, one of 150 aid groups helping WFP to distribute food in Afghanistan, had been trying to convert Afghan Muslims to Christianity.
The Taliban said they seized a hoard of Christian material from the aid workers, including computer discs and Bibles translated in local languages.
Seeking converts or converting people from Islam can carry the death penalty in Afghanistan.