PAKISTAN: WESTERN DIPLOMATS AND RELATIVES RECEIVE VISAS TO FLY TO AFGHANSITAN TO SEE DETAINED CARE WORKERS ACCUSED OF PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY
Record ID:
836514
PAKISTAN: WESTERN DIPLOMATS AND RELATIVES RECEIVE VISAS TO FLY TO AFGHANSITAN TO SEE DETAINED CARE WORKERS ACCUSED OF PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY
- Title: PAKISTAN: WESTERN DIPLOMATS AND RELATIVES RECEIVE VISAS TO FLY TO AFGHANSITAN TO SEE DETAINED CARE WORKERS ACCUSED OF PROMOTING CHRISTIANITY
- Date: 27th August 2001
- Summary: (U3)ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (AUGUST 27, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV EXTERIOR OF AFGHAN EMBASSY AND GROUP OF MEN STANDING OUTSIDE 0.04 2. SV CAR WITH GERMAN DIPLOMAT HELMUT LANDES, AMERICAN DIPLOMAT DAVID DONAHUE AND AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMAT ALISTAIR ADAMS ARRIVING AT THE AFGHANISTAN EMBASSY (2 SHOTS) 0.17 3. SV DIPLOMATS WAITING OUTSIDE 0.22 4. MCU/SV U.S.DIPLOMAT (DONAHUE) AND AUSTRALIAN DIPLOMAT (ADAMS) STANDING IN EMBASSY PORCH (2 SHOTS) 0.32 5. SLV DIPLOMATS GOING INSIDE EMBASSY 0.38 6. SLV GATES TO EMBASSY 0.42 7. SV DIPLOMATS LEAVING EMBASSY 0.51 8. MCU (English) GERMAN DIPLOMAT HELMUT LANDES (IN ENGLISH AND THEN REPEATED IN GERMAN), SAYING: "We have got our visas and we will fly to Kabul this afternoon and we hope that we can see the detainees this evening, or tomorrow morning." 1.14 9. SV LANDES GETS INTO CAR 1.16 10. SV DIPLOMATS' CAR LEAVING EMBASSY 1.23 11. MCU (Pushto) MULLAH ABDUL SALAM ZAEEF, TALIBAN AMBASSADOR ARRIVNG AT PRESS CONFERENCE, SAYING: "Today, we have given visas to the diplomats from Germany, Australia and United States, and also to the relatives (of the detainees). As far as I know, they are leaving for Kabul this afternoon and will be allowed to meet their citizens or relatives." (2 SHOTS) 1.52 12. MCU OF PHOTOGRAPHERS 1.56 13. MCU (PUSHTO) ZAEEF SAYING: "The visas we had given last time were on the condition that the diplomats would not ask to meet the detainees there. But, this time, the visas are not conditional. This time, we have told them that they can meet the detainees." 2.17 14. SV/SLV PEOPLE WAITING NEAR EMBASSY (3 SHOTS) 2.29 15. SV MOTHER OF U.S. DETAINEE COMING OUT OF EMBASSY 2.34 16. SV MOTHER OF U.S. DETAINEE GETTING INTO CAR 2.35 17. MCU FATHER OF U.S. DETAINEE TALKING TO REUTERS TELEVISION: Q. "Did you get your visas?" A. "Yes we did. Thank you." Q. "Are you happy about going?" A. "I am ecstatic. Thank you." 2.41 18. SV FATHER OF U.S. DETAINEE GETTING INTO CAR 2.44 19. SV/SLV CAR OF PARENTS LEAVING (2 SHTOTS) 2.52 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th September 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
- City:
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics:
- Reuters ID: LVA80F2R6KGZ3RFJ5WKGEKR8ZM3C
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Western diplomats and relatives received visas to fly
to Afghanistan on Monday after
the ruling Taliban lifted its ban on access to eight foreign
aid workers held for three weeks on charges of spreading
Christianity.
The three diplomats, Helmut Landes (Germany), Alistair
Adams (Australia) and David Donahue (USA) arrived at the
Afghanistan embassy in Islamabad on Monday
(August 27) to collect their visas and return to Kabul after a
failed first mission to see detained care workers accused of
promoting Christianity.
"We have got the visas," Helmut Landes, the spokesman for
the embassy and the German diplomat who would travel to Kabul,
told Reuters.
"We will be leaving for Kabul this afternoon and hope to
meet the detainees this evening. Otherwise, tomorrow morning,"
he said.
The diplomats said they intended to fly to Afghanistan
later in the day and hoped to see their jailed citizens -
four Germans, two Americans and two Australians - on Monday
evening, or on Tuesday (August 28).
"Today we have given visas to the diplomats from Germany,
Australia and United States, and also to the relatives (of the
detainees). As far as I know, they are leaving for Kabul this
afternoon and will be allowed to meet their citizens or
relatives," Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef
told Reuters Television.
"The visas we had given last time were on the condition
that the diplomats would not ask to meet the detainees there.
But, this time, the visas are not conditional. This time, we
have told them that they can meet the detainees," he added.
A short time later, the relatives of the two American
detainees -- the mother of one and the father of the other -
emerged from the embassy.
The father said he was "ecstatic" and they expected to go
to Kabul at the same time as the diplomats.
The flight comes a day after Afghan authorities let the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meet the six
women and two men who had not been seen by anyone except the
Taliban since being jailed in early August.
The diplomats had returned from Kabul last Tuesday (August
21) after a futile week long effort to see the aid workers,
who were arrested after raids by religious police.
In Kabul, the ICRC said it planned a meeting with Taliban
officials on Monday to follow up on their visit to the jailed
aid workers on Sunday (August 26) and to pick up letters to
their
relatives.
The ICRC, which maintains strict neutrality in any
conflict, was silent on the condition of the aid workers,
saying only that detainees were "happy" to see them.
Sixteen Afghan staff of Shelter Now International were
also arrested by the Taliban, but the ICRC has not been able
to see them yet.
The Taliban say their supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar
will decide what punishment will be meted out to the
foreigners and local staff. Under their strict interpretation
of Islam, it could include death sentences.
The Taliban say they recovered Bibles, tapes and CDs about
Christianity in the local Dari and Pashto languages that were
being used to convert Muslims to Christianity.
The Taliban later said they had widened the investigation
into alleged links with other groups, including the U.N. World
Food Programme.
The arrests followed months of worsening ties between the
Taliban and the numerous foreign aid groups helping
impoverished Afghans cope with more than two decades of war
and now a devastating drought.
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