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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Afghans Wonder Who Is Holding the UN Workers as Hostages |
| 2004-11-18 |
| From Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty [Afghan] Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said on 17 November that he believes the group calling itself Jaysh al-Muslimin (Army of the Muslims) is not holding the three UN workers hostage, as it has claimed, Reuters reported. "You can tell by the deadlines and the demands, which keep being broken and relaxed," Mashal said, justifying the Afghan government's opinion. "We think they [hostages] are being held by some armed robbers who abducted them. Our reports suggest that the hostages are still in or around Kabul," Mashal added. Army of the Muslims, a splinter group of the neo-Taliban, reportedly abducted the UN election workers on 28 October and has repeatedly changed its demands and deadlines for ending the hostage crisis Abdul Latif Hakimi, purporting to speak on behalf of the neo-Taliban, told RFE/RL on 17 November that he does not think anyone associated with his movement is involved in the UN kidnappings. "Kidnapping or taking people hostage, I believe, is neither an action that could be effective against the enemy nor will there be a reasonable response to the demands," Hakimi said. "There is also another problem: It is said that women are among the hostages. I believe kidnapping women does not conform to Islamic Shari'a law." |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |