Hostage talks postponed
Militants threatening to kill three foreign hostages today - including Annetta Flanigan from Armagh - said negotiations with Afghan and UN officials had been postponed for another day.
President-elect Hamid Karzai renewed his condemnation of the abduction and received a promise from his visiting Pakistani counterpart of closer cooperation in combating terrorism.
Authorities have not confirmed contact with Jaish-al Muslimeen, a Taliban splinter group demanding a UN pull-out from Afghanistan and the release of Taliban prisoners.
Syed Khaled, a spokesman for the militants, initially claimed talks had begun this morning at a secret location in southern Afghanistan. But he claimed later that an Afghan government delegation arrived too late.
“Our people thought the talks might continue late into the night, so the two sides agreed to hold them tomorrow,” said Khaled.
“We hope that the Afghan government delegation will be empowered to solve the issue quickly.”
The abduction of Annetta Flanigan, Angelito Nayan of the Philippines, and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo was the first of foreigners in Kabul since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.
The militants released a videotape of the hostages last Sunday, fuelling concern that they are copying the tactics of their Iraqi counterparts. Still, Afghan officials suspect the little-known group had help from warlord militias or criminal gangs.
The militants have repeatedly extended a deadline after which they say they will decide whether to kill the hostages. They are also demanding that British troops leave Afghanistan and that the United States release Muslim inmates from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The US military has volunteered to help in any rescue and said it was receiving daily government briefings.
Spokesman Major Scott Nelson said he couldn’t give details of efforts to free them “because things are too sensitive now”, while praising Afghan officials for “doing a good job in trying to get a resolution”.
“The health of the (election) workers is with the kidnappers,” Nelson said. “They need to make sure they safeguard their health and the best way to do that is to return them safely to the United Nations.”
Karzai and visiting Italian Deputy Prime Minster Gianfranco Fini condemned the kidnapping.
“We will do our best to solve this issue and to bring back the hostages to their families as soon as possible,” Karzai said.
Karzai also received a visit today from Pakistan’s military president, General Pervez Musharraf, who pledged a common fight against terrorist groups, including better intelligence-sharing.
Purported spokesmen for the group have called a string of reporters in Pakistan to make claims about the abduction.
Still, Musharraf, whose relations with Karzai have been strained by suspicions that Taliban rebels find sanctuary in Pakistan, didn’t mention the hostage crisis directly.
“The success of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan is Pakistan’s success, and our success in Pakistan will be Afghanistan’s success,” Musharraf said after talks in Karzai’s presidential palace.
“I was telling my brother, there is no doubt in our minds that we both have to succeed,” he said.
