No word on Italian hostage as kidnappers' deadline passes
Afghan police had no word today on the fate of an Italian hostage after the deadline passed in the purported kidnapper’s threat to kill her unless his demands were met – but a senior officer said authorities did not believe the ultimatum was serious.
General Mahboubullah Amiri, a police commander in the Interior Ministry, played down the threat to hostage Clementina Cantoni.
“There is no news on the fate of Clementina. We are trying to get in contact,” he said.
A man claiming to have kidnapped the 32-year-old relief worker in the Afghan capital Kabul threatened in a telephone interview broadcast on local television to kill her unless his demands were met by last night, local time.
The caller, who called himself Temur Shah, demanded that the government set up more Islamic boarding schools in Afghanistan, that authorities provide “alternative livelihoods” for farmers forced to stop growing opium, and that independent radio station Arman stop broadcasting a programme about young people’s social issues.
He did not say why he opposed the show.
Shah also said Cantoni’s health was “very critical”, adding that she had internal bleeding, was vomiting and had not eaten in three days. He said she hurt her head during her abduction when four men dragged her from her car in Kabul on Monday night.
The man did not give any proof that Cantoni was in his captivity.
Care International, Cantoni’s employer, said in a statement it was not at liberty to comment on any aspect of the case out of concern for Cantoni’s safety.
Cantoni has been in Afghanistan since 2002, and was working for Care International on a project helping Afghan widows and their families.
Her kidnapping was the latest in a series of attacks targeting foreigners in Kabul, reinforcing fears that militants or criminals here are copying tactics used in Iraq.
The Afghan government did not immediately comment on Shah’s demands, or say whether they thought he was the kidnapper.
Authorities have said they suspect Cantoni was kidnapped by the same criminal gang accused of abducting three United Nations workers last year, before releasing them after nearly a month.
