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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan paper urges execution of Taliban prisoners |
| 2007-04-10 |
| The Afghan government should execute Taliban prisoners, an Afghan daily said on Monday, the day after the rebels killed the translator of an Italian journalist. A spokesman for the Taliban commander holding translator Ajmal Naqshbandi said he was beheaded on Sunday after the government refused to free several insurgent prisoners. Government officials later confirmed the man was killed. “Martyring Ajmal Naqshbandi and their other crimes happen as the government shows extreme leniency towards the Taliban prisoners,” Arman-e-Millie daily said in an editorial. “There has been no implementation of punishment for any criminal and killer Taliban who has been sentenced to heavy punishment by the judicial authorities,” it said. “From now on, criminal Taliban should be executed.” Newly married Naqshbandi, along with La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo and his local driver, were kidnapped early last month. The Taliban freed the Italian after about two weeks when Kabul released five of its senior members. The swap happened after the group beheaded Mastrogiacomo’s driver, but the rebels had held on to his translator in a bid to secure the release of more of their men. Another daily, Cheragh, criticised the government for failing to free Naqshbandi but going ahead with a deal to secure Mastrogiacomo’s freedom and save Italy’s fragile government from embarrassment. “Mr Karzai, no doubt, you managed to save the Italian government from falling. But with regret, you could not save the life of an Afghan and someone who had voted for you,” it said. A group representing Afghan journalists said the execution had sparked fear among local reporters of covering areas where the Taliban were active. Some Afghan journalists vowed to leave out Taliban comments or statements from publications. Meanwhile, Taliban militants threatened to kill a second Afghan hostage unless the government enters negotiations over his release. The threat to kill one of a five-member team of Afghan medics snatched in southern Kandahar province on March 27 comes less than 24 hours after the Taliban beheaded an Afghan journalist in neighbouring Helmand province. “We’ll kill one of the doctors if the government fails to enter negotiations before April 15,” Shohaabuddin Atal, a spokesman for top Taliban military commander Mullah Dadullah, said. He refused to give details of the rebels’ demands. He alleged that the doctor he identified as Khalilullah was a cousin of the governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. The Taliban will decide the fate of the other four medics later, he said. Atal said on Sunday that Taliban leaders would decide the fate of the French pair and their Afghan assistants. Also on Monday, fears mounted for the safety of two French aid workers kidnapped by the Taliban militia in southern Afghanistan after the insurgents beheaded Naqshbandi. A senior government official speaking on condition of anonymity said he believed the Taliban killed Naqshbandi to pressure President Hamid Karzai into making another similar deal to free the French nationals. “If you remember when the Taliban killed Mastrogiacomo’s driver the government freed Taliban prisoners to save the Italian. I believe they killed Naqshbandi to scare us into accepting their demands again,” he said. “But I don’t think the government is in a position to comply with more such demands. It just can’t do it,” he said. Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said the government would not make further deals with the Taliban, although it was “worried for the French nationals”. “The government is determined to not make any further deals with the terrorists. No more deals, with no one, for no one,” Baheen said. Another Afghan official said the government was in a tight corner over the French hostages, following widespread domestic criticism of its failure to save a fellow Afghan while helping free the Italian journalist. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 No need to go through all this trouble. They just need to transfer these prisoners to a more secure location. I understand that the prison run by General Dostum has vacancies... ..he has at least 4 or 5 dozen empty Shipping Containers standing by and available.. |
| Posted by: RD 2007-04-10 11:21 |
| #2 No need to go through all this trouble. They just need to transfer these prisoners to a more secure location. I understand that the prison run by General Dostum has vacancies... |
| Posted by: John Frum 2007-04-10 08:20 |
| #1 sounds like good policy to me |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-10 07:11 |