Militants claiming to hold three UN hostages said they would decide yesterday whether to kill them, after declaring that talks on their demands, including the release of Taliban prisoners, had broken down.
Two senior Afghan officials said on condition of anonymity yesterday that security forces were still searching for the hostages, but they had no information about any contact with the kidnappers.
The Jaish-al Muslimeen, a shadowy Taliban splinter group, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Irish-British hostage Annetta Flanigan was "seriously ill" because of the strain of her captivity, and all three were sickened by a diet of little more than cookies.
A purported commander for the group said UN and Afghan officials contacted them by telephone Thursday but were "not ready for negotiations."
"We have decided that we won't negotiate any more, either, because they are not making a serious effort to get the hostages released," a man identifying himself as Sadir Momin said in a satellite telephone call.
The group planned to hold a council yesterday. "Then we will decide whether to kill them or allow more time," he said.
The man was among three purported representatives of the militant group who spoke to reporters. The representatives' claims could not be verified independently.
Armed men abducted Flanigan, Filipino Angelito Nayan and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo a week ago in the Afghan capital.
The group's leader, Akbar Agha, said that Flanigan was ailing.
"My friends have told me she is very frightened. She can't speak smoothly," he said. "The Afghan government will be responsible if anything happens to her."
The abductions were the first kidnappings of foreigners in Kabul since the Taliban was ousted in 2001 and sparked concern militants were copying the tactics of their Iraqi counterparts.
The group released a videotape of the hostages Sunday to back its claim of responsibility and has demanded the withdrawals of British troops and the United Nations from Afghanistan in return for the hostages' lives.
Still, Afghan officials doubt the little-known group could have pulled off the kidnappings without the help of a local militia or criminal gang, and authorities have conducted a number of searches.
On Thursday, the group claimed it gave authorities a list of 25 Taliban prisoners, some held at a U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and others in Afghan jails.
UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva thanked the Afghan government Thursday for its efforts to free the hostages. He said the world body was "doing all it can" in support.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is today to inaugurate the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities’ efforts to overhaul the country’s vital tourism industry. With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the museum houses thousands of artifacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates 5 million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display. In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the “historic moment,” describing the
‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’: The doll on Shein’s Web site measure about 80cm in height, and it was holding a teddy bear in a photo published by a daily newspaper France’s anti-fraud unit on Saturday said it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein (希音) for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance.” The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on Shein’s Web site “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content.” Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. On its Web site, Le Parisien daily published a
‘NO WORKABLE SOLUTION’: An official said Pakistan engaged in the spirit of peace, but Kabul continued its ‘unabated support to terrorists opposed to Pakistan’ Pakistan yesterday said that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had “failed to bring about a workable solution,” warning that it would take steps to protect its people. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbors’ deadliest border clashes in years. The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan. “Regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances, kept deviating from the core issue and resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses,” Pakistani Minister of
UNCERTAIN TOLLS: Images on social media showed small protests that escalated, with reports of police shooting live rounds as polling stations were targeted Tanzania yesterday was on lockdown with a communications blackout, a day after elections turned into violent chaos with unconfirmed reports of many dead. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to solidify her position and silence criticism within her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or disqualified. In the run-up, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, which has seen a string of high-profile abductions that ramped up in the final days. A heavy security presence on Wednesday failed to deter hundreds protesting in economic hub Dar es Salaam and elsewhere, some
RSS